In the Po River, water levels are more than 2 meters lower than average; temperatures in June are 3.5 degrees higher; in the first five months of 2022, rainfall is down about 50% over the past 30 years and this spring was the fifth warmest since 1880. In short, Italy is experiencing its most severe drought since 1952.
Farmers are trying to deal with the crisis but they are not filled with optimism. "The future of the harvest is uncertain. What is certain is that if this drought persists it will do enormous damage." Said Giovanni Daghetta, the owner of a 325-hectare farm in the province of Pavia.
"For now, irrigation is the main problem. We have had to use water pumps, which are very expensive, to water our fields," Daghetta said, a former president of the farmers' union in Lombardy. "If the forecasts don't change we will have extensive damage."
The weather forecast for the next two weeks in Italy does not look good. It predicts there will be no rain in the province of Pavia, and temperatures will range between 22 and 33 degrees, with a peak of 38 next weekend.
Source: euronews.com