2022 is a record year for extreme weather events: +55% in Italy

The torrential rains that caused the landslide of Ischia, or the dry Po during the long months without rain, are only the most striking cases. According to Legambiente’s Città Clima Observatory, created in collaboration with the Unipol group, 2022 saw a 55% increase compared to 2021 in extreme events that caused damage and fatalities. The data summarized in the climate risk map elaborated by the environmental association with the CittàClima Observatory reveal 310 extreme phenomena, which caused 29 deaths and had dramatic impacts on the economy and the environment from North to South.

Specifically, the map matters 104 cases of flooding and flooding from heavy rains, 81 cases of damage from tornadoes and gusts of wind, 29 from hailstorms, 28 from prolonged drought, 18 from storm surges, 14 events involving infrastructure, 13 river floods, 11 cases of landslides caused by heavy rains, 8 cases of extreme temperatures in the city and 4 events with impacts on the historical heritage. There are many events that concern two or more categories, for example cases in which river floods or flooding from heavy rains also cause damage to infrastructure. In 2022, drought damage increased compared to last yearwhich rose from 6 in 2021 to 28 in 2022 (+367%), those caused by hailstorms from 14 in 2021 to 29 in 2022 (+107%), damage from tornadoes and gusts of wind, which rose from 46 in 2021 to 81 in 2022 (+76%), and floods, from 88 in 2021 to 104 in 2022 (+19%).

The North is the most affected area, Rome the most vulnerable city

Territorially, this year the north of the peninsula was the most affected area, followed by the south and the centre. At the regional level, Lombardy is the region with the most cases, as many as 37, followed by Lazio and Sicily, with 33 and 31 respectively. Also relevant are the cases recorded in Tuscany, 25, Campania, 23, Emilia-Romagna, 22, and Piedmont, 20, Veneto, 19, Puglia, 18. Among the provinces, that of Rome is the most affected with 23 weather-hydro events, followed by Salerno with 11, Trapani with 9, Trento, Venice, Genoa and Messina with 8 cases. Between the cities, Rome (13) and Palermo (4).

The climate risk map at a glance

The data of the Città Clima Observatory collected in the online map of climate risk contain a focus on the European project LIFE+ AGreeNet which aims to make the cities of the Middle Adriatic coast more resilient to climate change through various interventions.

Focus drought. In 2022 according to Isac-Cnr data, in the first seven months of the year rainfall has decreased by 46% compared to the average of the last thirty years. The first part of the year was crucial with five consecutive severely dry months, e an anomaly, from January to June, equal to – 44% of rainfall, equivalent to about 35 billion cubic meters of water less than normal. Increasingly difficult rivers, such as the Po which at Ponte della Becca (PV) had a hydrometric level of -3 meters, and the large lakes with filling percentages ranging from 15% of the Iseo, to 18% of that of Como up to 24% of Major.

In the autumn, the situation in the central regions worsened, especially in Umbria and Lazio. In the first case, the rainfall deficit stood at 40%, Lake Trasimeno has reached a level well below the critical threshold, with -1.54 metres. In Lazio, Lake Bracciano dropped to -1.38 meters with respect to hydrometric zero. Serious consequences for agriculture and natural habitats. 11% of farms found themselves in such a critical situation as to lead to the cessation of activity. Restrictions on the use of water have had to be imposed in many urban areas.

Environment

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The drought has caused the loss of energy production, especially from hydroelectricity. Although Terna1’s data for April showed an all-time record for energy produced from renewable sources, there was no hydroelectric power. The production of energy from this source, in fact, was -41% due to the low rainfall, which for months brought the filling levels of the reservoirs close to the minimum values ​​recorded in the last 50 years. In December, the level of the Po remained below the average of the last 20 years and what is most worrying is the situation of the groundwater, with levels between 35 and 50% lower than the monthly average.

Hot focus and heat waves. In the year that is closing in Italy they are exceptional temperatures were recorded as early as May with peaks of 36.1 °C in Florence, 35.6 °C in Grosseto, 34 °C in Pisa and 32.8 °C in Genoa. But also in Ustica with 33.4°C and Turin with 29.2°C. The month of June saw an anomaly in the average temperature of +3.3°C if we consider Italy as a whole, with peaks of 41.2°C in Guidonia Montecelio (RM), 40°C in Prato, Florence , Viterbo and Rome. In July, records for the Lombard cities: 39.5 °C was recorded in Brescia and Cremona, 38.9 °C in Pavia and 38.5 °C in Milan.

In August the thermometers showed between 40 and 45 °C in Palermo, Catania and Reggio Calabria, while in Bari it reached 39 °C. These levels of exceptional heat, which lasted for weeks and months in much of the country, have led to serious consequences for human health. The heat wave that hit the hardest was that of the second half of July, with an increase in mortality that has reached, according to data from the Ministry of Health and the Department of Epidemiology of the Lazio Region, 36% in all areas of the country, but particularly in some northern cities. Among the most affected cities Turin which saw an excess of mortality equal to +70%, followed by Campobasso (+69%), then Bari (+60%), Bolzano (+59%), Milan and Genoa (+49%), Viterbo (+48%), Florence (+43%), Catania (+42%). In 2022 alone, there were over 2,300 deaths in Italy due to heat waves, according to analyzes by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Epidemiology of the Lazio Region, up from 1,472 in 2021 and 685 in 20202.

The event

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The climate disasters of 2022

The most relevant cases of 2022 – In this “climate 2022” balance, Legambiente recalls some relevant cases: on 3 July the detachment of a large portion from the summit cap of the Marmolada glacier, 11 victims and 8 injured. Between 27 and 28 July in Val Camonica the same amount of rain fell in the province of Brescia in the previous seven months. The heavy rains also caused landslides that hit Val di Fassa, in Trentino, on 5 August. In August in Scilla (RC), the coast was hit by a huge mass of water that invaded the streets. In this case, it is necessary highlight the link with overbuilding occurred over the years and the burial of the Liurni stream.

On 18 August gusts of wind at over 110 km/h hit the province of Massa Carrara. Four people were injured in a campsite in Marina di Massa due to falling trees and up to 7 thousand people were counted without electricity throughout the territory. The flood event that marked 2022 is the one that hit the Marche on 15 and 16 September, 13 dead. Between the end of September and the beginning of October Trapani was hit by violent storms three times and ended up under water. Tragedy in Ischia on November 26, in Casamicciola Terme (NA) where the heavy rains caused a landslide and a flood, with 12 registered victims. Rain record, with 126mm fallen in 6 hours. On 22 November, a high intensity storm hit Jesolo (VE), while on 3 December in the province of Messina various damages caused by heavy rains and landslides were recorded.

Legambiente’s requests to the government

For Legambiente, the balance sheet data from the CittàClima Observatory indicate once again the urgency for Italy of a decisive change of pace in the fight against the climate crisis, through more ambitious policies and concrete interventions that can no longer be postponed. Among the urgent actions to be implemented, according to the association, is the rapid approval of the Updated national climate change adaptation plan and published in recent days on the Mase website, and which will now have to be subject to public consultation in accordance with the provisions of the Strategic Environmental Assessment procedure.

“The photograph taken by our CittàClima Observatory – he declares Stephen Ciafani, national president of Legambiente – gives us a worrying picture of a very difficult year, concluded with the news on spring temperatures in late December in Italy, on the Arctic storm that hit North America, causing dozens of deaths, and on the cold wave in Japan. In the fight against the climate crisis, our country is still seriously lagging behind, chasing emergencies without a prevention strategy, which would save 75% of the resources spent on repairing damage. From the Meloni government, instead of new investments in gas, we are asking for five urgent actions to be placed at the center of the agenda for the first months of 2023″.

In summary, these are the actions that Legambiente deems most urgent:

• approval of the National Climate Adaptation Plan;
• allocation of adequate economic resources to implement it, not envisaged by the approved budget law;
• update of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) to the European objectives for the reduction of climate-altering gases of the REPowerEU;
• new simplifications for all renewable energy plants, starting with repowering for existing wind farms;
• speeding up of the authorization procedures with new guidelines from the Ministry of Culture for Superintendencies and a strong action of support and solicitation of the Regions to strengthen the offices that authorize the plants.