2023 was the hottest year in history, with increasingly recurring extreme events (see the flood in Emilia Romagna). We continue to lose such a quantity of biodiversity that we are even more likely to fall into the sixth mass extinction, while man continues to “eat” soil to build when we should stop overbuilding and, indeed, start thinking about one dismantling.
These are some of the alarms raised by the climatologist and science communicator Luca Mercalli, aimed at the students of Des Ambrois in Oulx, during the first conference “You are the future. Make the right choice”, a project that intends to create an agenda for environmental sustainability designed for schools, in the wake of the UN Agenda 2030.
It is not catastrophism, as Mercalli claims, but a general awareness of the fact that we are faced with an emergency – which primarily concerns our health – and must be treated as such.
The warmest winter in Piedmont
As far as the Piedmont area is concerned, the latest snowfall and rain have stopped a water crisis that had been going on for a few years.
“It finally snowed and we replenished water resources after almost two years of extreme drought – explains Mercalli – 2022 was the driest year in history for Piedmont and the Po basin.”
“But meteorological data does not eliminate the critical issues – is Mercalli’s warning – We need to look at the findings on long-term development: fortunately we have patched things up, but the temperature increase continues throughout the world, including Piedmont. What ended is the warmest winter in history in 250 years of global reference measures. Having a temporary respite does not mean you have cured the disease.”
The new ‘normal’
The exponential increase in temperatures in recent days has gone well above the average for the period with gradations closer to the summer period than spring. But what will be the new normal for Piedmont?
“Unfortunately we cannot speak of normality – claims Mercalli – warming trends will not stop for now. We are an area with a large mountain component and here we can immediately see the consequences: our glaciers are drastically reducing, the duration of snow cover is being reduced, overall we have lost a month of snow in the Alps which is reflected in the availability of water for agriculture. We have heat waves that make our cities unlivable. In Turin in summer it frequently reaches 40 degrees, a fact that had never occurred before 2003.”
The consequences of the heat
As explained to the students, prolonged exposure to temperatures above 30 degrees causes damage to humans who cannot live in these conditions. Furthermore, high temperatures spread the spread of new diseases carried by tiger mosquitoes that survive at high temperatures.
The right choice
But is there still the possibility of making some “right choices” to save the planet?
“It can be done – concludes Mercalli – but above all to save ourselves, rather than the planet. It’s about enabling livable conditions on the planet for the human species. We can certainly avoid the worst scenario, blocking the situation from a climatic point of view and avoiding exponential variations that can last millennia. Starting today, as the whole world should do by implementing the Paris Agreement and reducing emissions, would be a positive step. It’s like intoxication: if the quantity of poison is reduced, the effects of the disease are also reduced“.
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