in Emilia-Romagna extreme events depend on CO 2 . We need a real energy transition – Corriere.it

Giorgio Parisi, Nobel prize for physics, help us understand? In Emilia-Romagna in less than two months we went from the drought emergency to the tragedy of the floods of these days. What is going on?
These are extreme events that we have to get used to.

Why do you say we have to get used to it?

These are events that depend on climate change, on the increase in temperature. And we are doing very little to fight these changes.

We who?

The world community. But we too in Italy.

Is it certain that these climatic changes depend on human activity?

Absolutely yes. due to CO emissions2 (carbon dioxide, ed).

Not all scientists say this.

Those who deny the link are less than 1 percent of scientists in the field. But proven without a doubt. And for this reason they gave the Nobel to Manabe and Hasselmann, who won it with me.

How do you prove that the increase in temperature depends on CO2 and not from climatic fluctuations?

The history of the Earth’s temperature analyzed with remarkable precision. The average temperature of the Earth is known year by year.

How do you determine the average temperature?

From circles marking tree trunks, from polar core segments. Such a rapid increase in temperature as in the last 40 years has never been seen.

And how do you understand that it really depends on the CO2?
There are highly accurate models of the atmosphere that compare how much the negligible — perhaps zero — increase in temperature would have been without CO2 and what we have with CO2.

Why does the increase lead to environmental disasters?
In the polar regions the temperature increased by 3, even 4 degrees due to the warm air arriving from the Equator. The cold air that comes from the north goes to the equator. So it happens that more and more warm air goes to the north and more and more cold air to the south. This circulation to which we are not accustomed increases the energy that accumulates in the atmosphere and which is vented in extreme events.

What should we do to avoid this?

Implement a world plan by making a climate agreement especially with India and China which together make up almost half of humanity.

It is not easy to make agreements with India and China.

They are very reluctant countries. Then an agreement with China cannot succeed until war is threatened.

And can we do something in Italy?

We have to, not only for climate change but also for us, for our air quality.

But what specifically?

A real energy transition. Stop our addiction to gas, oil and switch to renewable energy. Enel is building a huge solar panel factory in Catania, not enough but something.

And in our homes?
Let’s start with a simple thing: put double glazing on all the windows in Italy. And on all the roofs there are solar energy systems. With this amount of work, there would also be a lot of employment.

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