Hot months
Autumn 2023 so far in Italy ranks third among the warmest years since 1800 with a September temperature 2,17 degrees higher than the historical average for the month (1991-2020). This is what emerges from the analysis of Coldiretti on the new Isac Cnr data in underlining that the climatic anomaly was even +2,57 degrees in the north where September just ended ranks second. Nature is in haywire with production cycles upset and harvests decimated but on the stalls there are still widely present - Coldiretti points out - typically summer products such as apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums, melons (not just winter ones, but also the smooth and netted ones), up to watermelons, but also strawberries.
The harvest is decreasing
This year, Coldiretti specifies, climate change has caused a 15% cut in the rice harvest, 10% in wheat, 60% in cherries and 63% in pears, while honey has fallen by 70% compared to compared to last year and there was also a decline in the harvest (-12%). But the tendency towards overheating has also triggered the invasion of dangerous alien species, from the Asian bug to the blue crab, from the chestnut wasp to the for over a billion in the fields and in the seas, destroying crops and livestock. This year, Coldiretti underlines, therefore accentuates the trend towards overheating in Italy where the ranking of the hottest years in the last two centuries is concentrated in the last decade and includes, in order, 2022, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2019 and 2020. The increase in temperatures – continues Coldiretti – was accompanied in Italy by the multiplication of extreme events including hailstorms, tornadoes, water bombs, heat waves and wind storms which caused victims and damage both in cities and in the countryside.
Violent demonstrations
We are faced - underlines Coldiretti - with a clear trend towards tropicalization with a higher frequency of violent demonstrations, seasonal lag, short and intense rainfall and the rapid transition from heat to bad weather with devastating effects. In addition to cutting harvests, climate change is also modifying the distribution of crops along the Peninsula where - continues Coldiretti - olive tree cultivation in Italy has reached the Alps, today around half of the national production is grown in the Po Valley of tomatoes intended for preserves and durum wheat for pasta, typically Mediterranean crops, while the vineyards have even reached the peaks while in the south there is a boom in tropical crops, from avocado to mango to bananas. Agriculture is the economic activity that, more than any other, experiences the consequences of climate change on a daily basis, but it is also the sector most committed to combating it - continues Coldiretti - it is a new challenge for agricultural businesses that must interpret the news reported by climatology and the effects on crop cycles and water management. We need - concludes Coldiretti - investments also thanks to the PNRR for the maintenance, saving, recovery and regulation of water, a commitment to the diffusion of low consumption irrigation systems, but also research and innovation for the development of resistant crops. (Source COLDIRETTI).