From landslides to floods to record temperatures:2023 is a red flag year for the climate in Italy - The report

And experts sound the alarm:«Beware of the diseases of the new climate»

During 2023, 378 extreme events occurred in Italy, recording a 22% increase compared to the previous year.This is what Legambiente's City Climate Observatory photographs.The consequences were disastrous with both economic damage, worth billions, and human losses with the death of 31 people.The northern regions of the country, with 210 extreme weather events, were the most affected, followed by those of the center (98) and the south (70).There has been a significant increase in floods and river overflows (+170% compared to 2022), record temperatures in urban areas (+150%), landslides caused by intense rainfall (+64%), storm surges (+44%), damage caused by hailstorms (+34.5%) and flooding (+12.4%).Not only that:the freezing point has reached 5,328 meters in the Alps, contributing to the retreat of the glaciers.

The situation in the Italian regions

Various extreme climatic events were recorded in the Peninsula in 2023, including 118 cases of flooding due to heavy rain, 82 cases of damage caused by tornadoes and strong winds, 39 cases of hail damage, 35 river flooding, 26 damage from storm surges, 21 resulting from prolonged drought, and 20 extreme temperature situations in cities.These events mainly affected cities such as Rome, Milan, Fiumicino, Palermo and Prato.If we look at a regional level, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna are the most affected this year, with 62 and 59 damaging events respectively, followed by Tuscany with 44, and then by Lazio (30), Piedmont (27), Veneto ( 24) and Sicily (21).It should be noted that in the month of July alone, Lombardy was affected by 28 events, which caused the death of two people.Among the most affected provinces stand out Rome with 25 extreme weather events, Ravenna with 19, Milan with 17, Varese 12, and finally Bologna and Turin with 10.

The expert's warning:«Beware of the diseases of the new climate»

Climate change has an extremely significant impact on human health.Increases in temperatures, extreme weather events and air pollution also affect the spread of diseases.«We need to be increasingly attentive to the relationship between diseases and climate changes, which are responsible for the onset of many pathologies», raises the alarm Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute of Milan, from the columns of Corriere della Sera.«Malaria, dengue, Ebola, SARS, Zika and other infections cause millions of deaths every year and there are almost three hundred pathological conditions aggravated by climate change», he comments.