Italy
Tourist attraction before the end – Venice is on dry land
Northern Italy is currently experiencing a massive drought. The largest lake in Italy reports a historic low. In the city of Venice, gondolas are stuck in the mud.
updated
The gondolas in Venice are mostly dry.
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Due to the lack of precipitation, there is currently a drought in many places in northern Italy.
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Pictures from Venice show that entire canals have dried up.
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Environmentalists propose various measures to reduce water consumption and to better utilize rainwater.
Residents and tourists are currently experiencing worrying images in Venice. “The lagoon city is the image of the crazy climate of these weeks,” say people to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Pictures show that many canals have dried up and the gondolas ride on mud.
Last weekend, the tide point in Venice was more than half a meter, according to “Mercury”. below the normal water level. This has drastic consequences for rescue services. Water ambulances would not come to emergency sites for a few hours during low tide. The news portal reports that low water levels in Venice are rare, but still happen again and again. According to experts, a special weather situation is responsible for the phenomenon this time: A high pressure area over Italy that acts like a barrier and keeps rain out. The duration and the cause of the current drought are extraordinary.
National water strategy required
the drought in northern Italy is becoming more and more alarming according to environmentalists. In the past few months, 53 percent less snow has fallen in the Italian Alps than the long-term average, said the environmental organization Legambiente at the beginning of the week.
In the basin of the Po, the largest river in the country, precipitation has even fallen by 61 percent and even Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy, reports historic lows – although this usually has no problems even in periods of little rainfall. The north and center of the Apennines are also affected – a mountain range that runs through large parts of Italy. Incidentally, it is also warmer than average in the winter month of February.
Legambiente appealed to the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday, demanding a national water strategy. Specifically, the environmentalists proposed various measures to reduce water consumption and to better utilize rainwater.
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(dpa/jar)