ANCONA – Drought and ozone pollution. These are the critical issues highlighted by the professor Giorgio Passerini for the upcoming summer. The teacher of Environmental Technical Physics at the Polytechnic University of Marche paints a picture of the critical situation after a “winter with little rain and almost no snowfall”. With regard to Drought the greatest risk concerns the province of Ascoli Piceno where there is “a lack of water in the springs and there is the risk of rationing”.
While in the North of the country, he explains, the abundant rains of the last few weeks have partly remedied the situation, in the Marche «the scarce snow and the rainfall deficit, together with the arrival of the heat», risk opening the doors to “water shortage”. Passerini highlights that “the rainy period seems to be over and, according to Central European forecasts, the summer of 2024 is expected to be slightly warmer than usual”.
According to estimates temperatures could go one to two degrees above the climatic averages of the last thirty years specifies the expert. Meanwhile, the heat is expected starting next week. Once the fine dust phase is over, which ceases when the heating systems are turned off, the ozone season begins, the summer pollutant par excellence.
It’s about a pollutant linked to strong solar radiation and the absence of wind. Ozone pollution has negative effects on both human health, animals and vegetation, as well as on buildings due to its high oxidizing power: it is also responsible, among other things, for damage to the historical-artistic heritage.
When ozone levels exceed the permitted limit value, mayors must issue warning messages inviting the population to avoid prolonged outdoor exposure, reducing to a minimum physical activities that cause fatigue such as cycling and other sporting activities) in the hottest hours of the day. Among the acute effects of ozone on human health are the strong irritant action on the mucous membrane of the eyes, inflammation and alterations of the respiratory system.
