In the spring that has just ended, with respect to temperatures, "in Italy there was an anomaly of +1,9 degrees and it was the third driest spring with a deficit of almost 50% compared to the period 1971-2000". Furthermore, “precipitation has been below average with the meteorological spring ranking in Italy as the third driest since 1800 and a almost 50% water deficit after winter was also ranked third among the driest with 48% less rainfall”. In other words, in 2017 about 20 billion cubic meters of water would be missing throughout the country, a volume of water equal to the entire lake of Como.
This is what Coldiretti says based on climatological data from Noaa, the National Climatic Data Centre, from which it emerges that "globally the average temperature on the surface of the earth and the oceans was the second highest ever recorded in the period, even higher by 0,29 degrees compared to the average of the twentieth century".
“Farmers – continues Coldiretti – must resort to emergency irrigation to save production”. "Vegetables to fruit, cereals to tomatoes, but also sunflowers, vineyards and hay for animal feed for the production of milk for the great typical cheeses are at risk". “Heat stress – she added – has also affected animals on farms where the cows that with the high temperatures are producing up to about 20% less milk than in normal periods”. The drought that has affected the entire Peninsula. Above-average spring temperatures were recorded across Europe, Africa and much of North America.
"Agriculture is the economic activity that more than any other experiences the consequences of climate change on a daily basis, but it is also the sector most committed to combating them", says the president of Coldiretti and vice president of European farmers (Copa), Roberto Moncalvo , underlining that “we need maintenance, saving, water recovery and recycling interventions, information campaigns and education on the correct use of water, a commitment to the diffusion of low consumption irrigation systems, but also research and innovation for the development of crops with low water requirements".
