Milan is blanketed in smog, empty reservoirs are burning in Sicily and wine production is down in Piedmont as a lack of rain across Italy worsens pollution and causes drought.
Gas-guzzling cars were banned from the roads in Milan and eight other cities in Lombardy on Tuesday after high levels of particulate pollution dangerous to health were recorded in an industrial area in northern Italy. .
“The smog levels have become unbearable,” Sergio, 60, who has lived in the Milan area for the past 36 years, told AFPTV.
According to Italian environmental group Legambiente, the high levels are due to three factors: road traffic emissions, home heating and the agricultural sector.
The area is home to many intensive livestock farms, and the practice of spreading animal waste onto fields, which is known to cause air pollution, was banned.
Legambiente expert Andrea Minutolo told AFP that it was no coincidence that air pollution levels rose in February, as the region lifted a month-long ban on spreading waste at the end of January. he said.
Paolo Ciacco, 22, who said he was considering wearing a mask, said, “Even on days without a cloud, the sky is gray.The air quality in Milan has never been very good, but now I don’t like it.” Told.
Northern Italy has long been ranked as the most polluted region in Europe.
Part of Lombardy’s problem is geographical. Because it is located in a mountainous basin, ventilation is poor.
But clean air campaigners say this handicap is too often used by authorities as an excuse for high levels of air pollution.
High particle levels were also recorded in the capital, Rome.
～Bees who wake up early～
Regions across Italy are suffering from drought and severe lack of rainfall.
Snowfall has decreased in both the Alps and Apennines.
According to the CIMA Research Foundation, Italy’s snow water equivalent, or the amount of water stored in snowpack, is down 64% this month compared to last year.
The lack of rainfall is exacerbating an already difficult situation after last year’s heat wave caused reservoir levels to drop and water consumption to rise.
Sicily declared a natural disaster due to drought earlier this month, while farmers in Sardinia have limited water available.
Reservoir levels there are down 23% compared to the past 14-year average.
The southern regions of Puglia and Basilicata have also been affected, with farming group Coldiretti warning this weekend that rising temperatures have caused thousands of bees to wake up early from their winter slumber.
This threatens pollination of some crops because bees are out of sync with the flowering times of the plants they collect pollen from.
Meanwhile, the northwestern Piedmont region asked the Agriculture Department on Monday to declare a natural disaster due to drought in the region, saying it was affecting vineyards and causing a “significant” decline in wine production.
Experts say climate change caused by human activities is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and wildfires.
Global warming emissions, mainly due to the combustion of fossil fuels, have been increasing in recent years. Scientists say it needs to fall by almost half over the next decade.
Ide/Yado