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Venice, early 2023: According to environmentalists, the drought in northern Italy is taking on alarming proportions.
The water levels in the Serenissima have dropped to below 45 centimeters in some cases - numerous gondolas ran aground.
Photo: Luigi Costantini/AP
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Comparatively high temperatures and a lack of precipitation caused the levels to drop in January and February.
In the past few months, 53 percent less snow has fallen in the Italian Alps than the long-term average.
According to the environmental organization Legambiente, rainfall in the Po basin, the longest river in the country, has even fallen by 61 percent.
Photo: Luigi Costantini/AP
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Ironically, at the beginning of the carnival, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists to the city every year, the water in Venice dropped massively.
Up to a hundred thousand visitors are expected.
Photo: ANDREA MEROLA/EPA
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In many places, the romantic waterways have turned into impassable, muddy ditches.
Photo: Alessandro Bremec / NurPhoto / Getty Images
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Some canals were no longer navigable for water taxis and gondolas.
In some places the ambulance boats could not get through and had to make long detours, which jeopardized adequate emergency care.
The same applied to the fire brigade, which also uses boats in Venice.
Photo: Alessandro Bremec / NurPhoto / Getty Images
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Venice usually makes headlines with flooding, which the city government traditionally counters by building temporary bridges and walkways.
According to meteorologists, it has not been as dry as it is now for 15 years.
Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post/Getty Images
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Legambiente environmental activists called on the government to finally put in place a sustainable water strategy to address the apparent emergency.
"We shouldn't forget that the ecological transformation must also be carried out in the water sector, which today is severely affected by the climate catastrophe," said the organization's general director, Giorgio Zampetti.
Photo: Anteo Marinoni / LaPresse / ZUMA Press / dpa
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Drought on the Sirmione peninsula: The level of Lake Garda has also fallen immensely, and the island of San Biagio can now be reached via a path.
Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP
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River bed of the Po 2022: Last summer, Italy was hit by the worst drought in 70 years.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Po Valley in the north of the country.
Farmers recorded a loss of income of around six billion euros.
According to climate expert Massimiliano Pasqui, the current water shortage has been building up since the winter of 2020/2021.
He estimates that it would have to rain for 50 days to make up for the deficit.
Photo: GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE / REUTERS