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Drought: Italy declares a state of emergency in five northern regions

2022-07-04T20:10:38.543Z


The country faced an unusually early wave of heat accompanied by an absence of rainfall, particularly in the pla


The five regions of northern Italy are in a state of emergency.

The Council of Ministers has approved the state of emergency in Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto until December 31, the government announced in a statement.

In question ?

An intense drought that has hit the Po plain for several weeks.

The Po represents the largest reservoir of water on the peninsula, much of which is used by farmers.

Faced with the agricultural disaster, the State released a fund of 36.5 million euros.

The state of emergency aims to grant "extraordinary means and powers" to ensure the implementation of the urgent interventions necessary to guarantee public safety, the repair of damage suffered by public and private property and normal living conditions. Population.

The situation is so critical that Verona, a city of a quarter of a million inhabitants in northeastern Italy, decided on Saturday to ration the use of drinking water.

Until August 31, it will therefore be prohibited to use drinking water for watering vegetable gardens, gardens and sports grounds, as well as for washing cars and filling swimming pools.

Milan, it has closed its decorative fountains.

Read alsoGermany, Spain, Switzerland, Italy... the heat wave is also wreaking havoc on our neighbors

Like its European neighbours, Italy was faced with an unusually early wave of heat accompanied by a lack of rainfall, particularly in the agricultural plain of the Po (north), hit by its worst drought for 70 years.

Large swaths of the riverbed are now visible, so much so that a German tank from World War II has resurfaced.

Europe's #heatwave his Italy's Po valley hardest with several months without rain and abnormal halt in flows from melting snow, with serious consequences for food security: Forage, barley and grain crops down 30% to 40%, hazelnut, grapes, rice threatenedhttps:/ /t.co/oaUpChGP7W pic.twitter.com/tA28uEOY72

— Assaad Razzouk (@AssaadRazzouk) June 18, 2022

According to the largest agricultural union in the country, Coldiretti, the drought threatens more than 30% of national agricultural production and half of the farms in the Po plain, where Parma ham is produced in particular.

Water levels below normal at Lakes Maggiore and Garda

Lakes Maggiore and Lake Garda are showing water levels below normal for this time of year, while further south the level of the Tiber which flows through Rome has also dropped.

Another consequence of the drought: the production of hydroelectric energy has fallen sharply, while hydroelectric installations, located for the most part in the mountainous massifs in the north of the country, provide nearly 20% of national energy production.

The announcement comes a day after at least seven people died after a glacier collapsed in the Italian Alps, "undoubtedly" linked to global warming, according to Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2022-07-04

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