From Puglia to Liguria, the mimosas, symbol of Women's Day on March 8, are already in bloom more than a month early due to the arrival of the anticyclone in mid-winter which makes the sun shine and raise temperatures.
This is what emerges from Coldiretti's monitoring of the effects of an early spring caused by the North African anticyclone with temperatures of up to 20 degrees.
"High temperatures - underlines Coldiretti - send nature into a tailspin and favor early awakening in all plants even with out-of-season flowering and the danger of exposing crops to the damage of a predictable, subsequent, strong drop in temperatures with the consequent crop failure".
With unseasonal heat, the danger is also posed by populations of crop-damaging insects that survive to attack crops later next spring.
The mild winter, without rain, has so far recorded a temperature almost two degrees higher than the historical average (+1.87°), according to Coldiretti's analysis based on Isac Cnr data relating to the month of December .
Also worrying, Coldiretti underlines, is the drought due to the lack of snow in various sectors of the Alpine arc and on a large part of the Apennine ridge and a situation of water stress that increases as you go southwards with its peak in the islands, " which is certainly not normal in January."
Sicily's reservoirs in January 2024 are 63 million cubic meters lower (-13%) compared to the previous year according to Coldiretti analyzes on data from the Regional Department of the Sicily Hydrographic District Basin Authority.
"Due to the lack of rain - specifies Coldiretti - there is a lack of hay in the pastures and difficulties in the development of vegetables but difficulties have been reported for oranges or salads".
The ranking of the hottest years for over two centuries is concentrated in the last decade and includes, after 2023, 2022, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2019 and 2020, recalls Coldiretti.
Damage caused by bad weather and drought exceeded 6 billion euros in agriculture last year.
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