relative data the first seven months of 2022 suggest that this will be, to date, the hottest and driest year in Italyadvanced the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the Italian National Research Council (ISAC-CNR).
Between January and July there were temperatures 0.98º centigrade above average for the same period since 1800, when the data began to be recorded.
“If 2022 ended now, it would be the hottest year on record“, one of the representatives of the Italian National Research Council (ISAC-CNR), Michele Brunetti, told the ANSA news agency.
According to the data, rainfall levels for 2022 so far in 2022 are 46 percent lower than the average for this period, and northern Italy is the most affected by this shortage, with a rainfall level of 52 percent. percent higher than the casualties, and 42% in the center and south of the country.
As of mid-July, half of the European Union’s territory was at risk due to a prolonged drought, which is expected to cause a decline in crop yields in several countries, according to a European Commission report.
In Europe, it is the countries of the south and the Mediterranean area that, according to experts, more will be affected by water scarcity due to climate change.
In addition to Italy, with a third of agricultural production at risk and where a state of emergency has been declared in five regions, Drought affects much of Francewhich already has restrictions on water consumption in several regions of the country, and Switzerland, where the army is carrying water for livestock in alpine areas.
The UK and US have recently suffered from heatwaves and the Horn of Africa region is experiencing its worst drought in four decades, leaving more than 23 million people “extremely hungry” in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, according to a published report. in May by the organizations Save the Children and Oxfam.
In June, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that the drought “affects all regions in an increasingly serious and frequent way“, reaching three quarters of the world population in the middle of this century.
Source: Observadora
