Italy faces growing climate threats: floods in the north, drought in the south
Climate knows no borders, but its consequences can be completely different even within a single country. When the north struggles with excess water and the south with scarcity, it becomes clear that adaptation requires flexible rather than universal solutions.
Italy is facing increasingly intense and contrasting climate threats, from floods and landslides in the north to heat and drought in the south, leading to growing calls for adaptation strategies. On August 20, torrential rains and flooding caused a bridge to collapse in the Lombard town of Sonico, just a few kilometres from the Swiss border. The storm triggered the largest landslide in the town's history in the valley. A similar collapse occurred in 2012, but this summer it was much larger, carrying about one million cubic metres of debris, according to Pietro Gulberti, president of Sonico's Civil Protection. Hundreds of people were evacuated, and the main state road was closed.
"There was fear and terror because the whole house was shaking," said local resident Paola Madeo. Her husband, Mario, reflected on the fragile balance between the rain needed for crops and the dangers posed by flooding. "Water is needed, but not to the extent that it leads to a catastrophe," he said. No one was injured, but civil protection teams continue to work to secure the area. Restoring the bridge could take years.
The state Italian road company ANAS says climate change is creating new risks for infrastructure, stressing the need for more thorough monitoring and more frequent inspections of vulnerable structures such as bridges ahead of forecast events. "We are seeing increasingly concentrated rainfall, huge volumes of water falling in a short period of time with almost no warning, which puts great pressure on slopes, streams and road infrastructure," said Pino Belluschi of ANAS Lombardy.
While northern Italy continues to suffer from storms and torrential rains, the south faces the opposite problem — extreme heat, drought and water shortages. Across central and southern Italy, rivers are drying up and crops are struggling to survive. These different disasters paint a picture of an Italy divided in two, facing completely different but equally urgent climate challenges.
As reported by CCTV+, Italy faces growing calls for adaptation strategies to climate change as the country experiences increasingly intense and contrasting weather events that require flexible and timely solutions.
