Drought, mosquitoes and heat waves:the alarm from the EU Environment Agency in view of the summer

According to the report published today by the EEA, climate change is making extreme weather events increasingly frequent

«Have extreme weather events become the new normal?».This time the question is asked by the European Environment Agency, which today published a new one data-set on the prospects for next summer.The scenario that lies ahead is worrying for almost all areas of the Old Continent:in the South, there is a risk of even stronger and longer heat waves than in recent years;in the North, the risk of flooding is growing.In southern Europe, and therefore also in Italy, the European Agency estimates that there could be more than 60 days during which weather conditions "are dangerous for human health".The Iberian Peninsula, then, will experience "a marked increase in the number of days with a high fire danger".To cushion the impact of all these phenomena, the EEA suggests focusing on climate change adaptation plans, both at a national and local level.The interventions range from the increase in green and blue spaces (trees and water), which in cities can reduce the "heat island" effect, to the modernization of the agricultural system, through a review of the crops planted and irrigation systems.

The costs of drought

Bad news also regarding drought.After the emergency recorded last year, the situation "does not bode well" for next summer too, writes the Agency, thanks to an exceptionally dry winter.Since 2018, adds the EEA note, more than half of Europe has been hit by conditions of extreme drought, with all the consequences of the case:both on human health and on the economy.In fact, long-term climate projections indicate that Italy and other Southern European countries will become increasingly drier and arid.The economic loss related to drought is currently estimated at 9 billion per year.A figure that could rise to 25 billion per year in the event of global warming at 1.5°C, to 31 billion at 2°C of warming and to 45 billion at 3°C.

The risk of diseases

Together with the increase in extreme events, an increasingly hotter summer also brings with it another negative consequence:the increase in climate-sensitive diseases.«A warmer climate – explains the note from the European Environment Agency – means that both endemic and invasive species can spread further north or be present at higher altitudes than in the past».As for Western Europe, an increasingly significant increase in the population of tiger mosquitoes, which can spread dengue fever, and Anopheles mosquitoes, which could cause malaria to re-emerge, is expected.

Photo credits:ANSA/Maurizio Degl'Innocenti