Concerns Grow As Venice's Waterways Dry Up

With the Alps receiving just about half their average snowfall, scientists and advocacy agencies are worried that Italy might suffer another drought following last summer's crisis.

Very low tides are making it dangerous for gondolas, water taxis, and even ambulances to go through parts of Venice's iconic canals, prompting the recent caution.

Insufficient precipitation, a high pressure system, the full moon, and strong currents in the water all play a role in the current crisis in Venice. Environment organisation Legambiente said on Monday that northern Italy's rivers and lakes are critically low on water. It also issued a statement saying that the Po River, Italy's longest river, which flows from the north-west Alpine region to the Adriatic Sea, is 61% drier than usual for this time of year.

When the greatest drought in 70 years hit Italy in July, the nation issued a state of emergency for the territories around the Po River, which supplies water to almost a third of the country's farmland.

Massimiliano Pasqui, a climate specialist at the Italian scientific research agency CNR, was recently reporting for the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera while stating his country is in a water shortage scenario that has been stacking momentum since the winter of 2020-2021.

Due to record low water levels, a dry route may now be traversed to the tiny island of San Biagio in Lake Garda in northern Italy.

Over the last 15 days, an anticyclone has dominated the weather in western Europe, bringing with it the kind of moderate temperatures more typical of late spring.

Yet, as the Alps have been in desperate need of rain and snow, according to the most recent weather forecasts, they should get it soon.

 

Source: cnn.com