Alas! After the power cuts in Indian cities now it’s Italy’s turn to face the power crisis. Though, unlike India the reason behind these power cuts is not its shortage but the global warming. Italy’s government is planning to introduce a state of emergency to tackle the impending threat of power cuts, which have been attributed to a mild winter.
Normally, Italy’s summers are warm and with frequent thunderstorms. Till last year Italy’s biggest river Po and Lake Garda always had high water level with fast flowing water currents, courtesy melting of ice on the Alps. But this year picture is not as rosy as the peak summer time is yet to come but the mercury is still soaring high. As a result many rivers and lakes have already dried up and these are ominous signs, which worries farmers over the fate of their crops.
The masses are equally concerned, as they may have to face power cuts if the situation does not improve soon. Already the lack of sufficient water is not available to cool down the power stations on the banks of the rivers. The country’s civil defense organization has issued a warning which states that June will witness extreme high temperatures which will eventually lead to drought like situation in many parts of the country and it will badly affect the farmers.
Italy has always been vulnerable to climate changes and this can have unpleasant consequences on the country’s farming and tourism industries. To address the challenges Vatican had called for two days seminar. The meeting focussed on the challenge for the developing nations and how the Church and common man should respond to the threat of global warming.
As a matter of fact with the global warming unprecedented climatic change are occurring all over and many parts of the world are experiencing short winters and long summers.
Source: BBC