Record heat in Italy: 51 degrees on the ground in Sardinia and severe drought in the center-north

The extreme heat wave anticipated for weeks has hit Italy, recording record temperatures from north to south with truly frightening peaks in Sardinia, where last June 18th the surface temperature reached 51°C in Sardinia. Satellite data revealed it Sentinel 3 of the European Copernicus programme which periodically photographs the territories of the European Union also in relation to soil temperatures.

If Sardinia recorded a record temperature of 51 degrees – and we are only in mid-June – things did not go better elsewhere. In south-eastern France and north-eastern Spain 49 degrees were reached. We are talking, it is worth repeating, about the Earth’s surface temperaturenot the air one, but even on that front the situation is far from reassuring.

Highest temperatures worldwide

Climate change is increasingly evident, not only in Italy. However, the situation in the rest of the world is alarming, and not only in recent days. Last March, for example, the recorded temperature at the North Pole was 15 degrees higher than previous record and the North Pole was also 3 degrees warmer than the long-term average.

These days Nepal is preparing to move the Everest base camp to a lower altitude due to the Khumbu glacier melting and the increasingly concrete danger for those who want to venture onto the famous mountain. At the moment the base camp is located at 5,364 meters above sea level, but in the next few days will be moved 200-400 meters lower.

The heatwave that is affecting North Africa, Spain, France and Italy has reached the United Kingdom, where temperatures have been at their highest this year for days.

In the south-east of England, 32.7°C was reached and the data from local authorities speak clearly. Since 1884, the 10 warmest years on record have been after 2002, with the absolute record reached in 2019 with a peak of 38.7° in Cambridge.

Record heat and severe drought in Italy

Italy has been experiencing a period of drought for weeks now, which is particularly affecting the Po Valley areato the point that the government is considering a state of emergency for the most affected regions, from Piedmont to Lombardy. The consequences risk being truly serious, and not only for the agri-food sector, which has long been deprived of the means of sustenance necessary to continue cultivation and breeding activities.

It’s June, we repeat, and the level of the Po river is already at -3.3 metres compared to the lowest hydrometric zero than on August 15th of a year ago. The drought is affecting all Italian crops, from rice to sunflowers, from soybeans to corn, without forgetting the crops of wheat and other cereals and fodder for animal feed, at a time when it is necessary to ensure full production with the war in Ukraine.

But the water shortage situation does not only concern the Po Valley. The latest Coldiretti monitoring reveals that Lake Maggiore has just 19.5% of its basin filled and in Lake Como we are at 17.6% while in the downstream areas water is needed to irrigate crops.

Also suffering from the heat are the animals on farms where cows with high temperatures are producing up to 10% less milk due to stress. The lack of rainfall that in some areas has cut yields by 1/3 – Coldiretti specifies – affects national harvests in a situation in which Italy is dependent on foreign countries for many raw materials and produces just 36% of the soft wheat needed for bread, biscuits, cakes, 53% of the corn for feeding stables, 56% of the durum wheat for pasta and 73% of barley.

Charon is about to overwhelm Italy: another two weeks of intense heat

The weather forecast for the next few days confirms rising temperatures at least until the beginning of July. The heat wave will initially concentrate on the central north of the country, with temperatures reaching 38-40°C, and then it will also move to the south, where temperatures could reach 43-44°C.

Photo | Getty