Scorching heat and increasingly rare summer breezes. The climate increasingly affects our lives, the economy and health. And perhaps, in a ranking of the cities with the “best” climate, it is sad to find Naples only in 79th place. Yet, characterized by tropical nights and heat waves, the Neapolitan capital has changed its climate. This is according to the 2023 Climate Liveability Index created by Corriere della Sera with ILMeteo.it which analyzes atmospheric variations to create a little more awareness of the changes underway thanks to a series of parameters ranging from summer breezes to temperature variations, from tropical nights to extreme events.
Looking at the general ranking, created by “adding the points” of the various parameters and led by Imperia, Biella and Agrigento, the first of the Campania cities is Avellino at 55th place followed by Naples, precisely in 79th, Salerno in 87th, Benevento at 88th And Caserta at 97th. The tropical nights, i.e. those in which the average temperature between 9pm and 8am did not fall below 20°, particularly affected Naples’ performance. There were 93 nights in 2023, to which heat waves should also be added. Looking at the other provincial capitals of Campania, the one that had the best climate this year was Avellino, where the 89 days of rain and in particular the 17 of intense rain did not allow for a better performance.
Continuing downwards, in the ranking we find Salerno with 18 days of intense rain and which ranked 16th among all cities for the number of heat waves. A parameter that influenced the positioning of Benevento which, in addition to being subject to many heat waves, suffered more from temperature variations with an annual average of 10.5 °C. Campania black shirt for the 2023 Climate Liveability Index is Caserta. However, it has even improved compared to previous years but still had 52 days of fog, 89 days of rain, 11 of intense rain, 70 tropical nights and is sixth for heat waves.
«Without causing alarmism – comments the meteorologist from ILMeteo.it Mattia Gussoni – the impact of tropical nights on the weather of cities like Naples should be noted, whereas previously it was the typical moment of respite, especially in regions like Campania characterized by the presence of the sea. And so the awareness that emerges from this type of study undoubtedly suggests that the time needed to act on daily actions, especially collective ones, to reduce emissions and make buildings more efficient from an energy point of view is becoming undeniably tighter”.
