Download Climate Change Country Profile

Climate Change Country Profile:
Italy.
Xandra Addari
What climate hazards does Italy face?
What human or environmental systems affect
or are affected by these climate hazards?
&
Melting Glaciers:
•
Twenty percent of Europe's Alpine glaciers melted
between 1980 and 2000. With the speed of melting
picking up, the glaciers could be gone by 2050,
according to the fifth annual report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
•
Experts now say Europe's most southerly glacier, the
Calderone, which sits on the Gran Sasso massif in
Abruzzo will be gone by 2020.
•
As Italy's Alpine glaciers recede, the melted water
contributes to rising sea levels. The loss of glaciers also What remains of the Calderone glacier in Abruzzo. Photo: Guidosky
increases global temperatures as the large tracts of
white ice are no longer present to reflect the sun's rays
back out to space.
Climate Change
•
It's not just glaciers that are melting either. Fragile
Alpine environments are particularly susceptible to
climate change and are warming at three times the
rate of coastal areas, something which threatens
Italy's ski industry.
•
Figures from Italy's Ministry for Environment, Land
and Sea show that the predicted end of the century
changes of 4C in the Alps would eliminate nearly all
snow cover under 2000 meters, while snow at higher
altitudes would arrive later and melt sooner.
•
That would be bad news for Italy's 286 ski resorts,
whose half-pipes, ski lifts and chalets may soon close.
The avalanche followed the heaviest snowfall the region had seen in decades
and may have been triggered by a series of four earthquakes above magnitude
five, which rocked the region earlier the same day. Photo: Vigili del Fuoco
Loss of Cultural Heritage
•
As Italy's glaciers melt, – the coastal
waters around the country will rise,
putting low-lying cultural treasures at
risk.
•
•
These include some of Unesco World
Heritage sites such as the archaeological sites
of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which would
be swallowed by the rising tide.
There is a lack of scientific
consensus on just how quickly
melting ice and thermal expansion
will cause sea levels to rise, but
even conservative estimates suggest
that unless action is taken, sea
levels could rise by 1.5 meters by
the end of the century.
St Mark’s Basin during ‘exceptional high’ water, which left more than 70% of
Venice flooded when the sea level rose more than 150cm. The maximum
documented tide level was 194cm in November 1966
Photograph: AFP/Getty
BEFORE
What is
predicted to
happen to
Pompeii if sea
level rises 9m
Photos: Flood
Levels
Interactive Map
AFTER
More extreme weather
•
Higher global temperatures cause higher rates of
evaporation, change the way air moves and
affect the amount of water vapour the air can
hold.
•
That might not seem like much, but on a global
scale it is disrupting weather systems and
causing violent and unpredictable events such as
storms and droughts.
•
Recent year's extreme summer heatwaves have
caused floods and landslides across the country
which cost lives and created millions of euros
worth of damage.
2007 Flood in Milan, photo: Peppe Caridi
2014 Flood in Genova photo:tizianocaviglia
What social, economic or physical attributes such population
size and density, topography, the percentage of the city's
population in poverty or industry exacerbate the situation or
are themselves put at risk?
•
The major sectors that exacerbate the situation are the agricultural, livestock, industrial, civil
and tourism sectors.
•
The main situations of conflict and social problems related to climate change in Italy appear
to be related to: economic damage and risks pertaining coastal cities and their infrastructure,
increase in territorial disputes and migration.
Sources Cited
http://www.lifegate.it/persone/news/2015-emissioni-co2-italia-aumento
http://www.meteoweb.eu/2016/08/allerta-meteo-codice-rosso-milano-seveso-lambro-rischio-esondazione/735561/
http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/temi/acqua/fonti-di-inquinamento
http://www.italiaclima.org/approfondimenti-climatici/cosa-sta-succedendo-al-clima/
http://www.thelocal.it/20151201/five-ways-climate-change-is-affecting-italy
http://www.lamiaterravale.it/it/news/limpatto-dei-cambiamenti-climatici-sullagricoltura