Number of cities on heat-wave red alert to rise to 16

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 20 - The health ministry said on Wednesday that the number of Italian cities on red alert because of the heat wave that is baking the country is set to rise from nine to 14 on Thursday and then to 16 on Friday.
    The nine of the 27 major cities currently on red alert are Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Genoa, Latina, Perugia, Rieti and Rome.
    They will be joined by Campobasso, Frosinone, Milan, Turin and Viterbo on Thursday and by Verona and Trieste on Friday.
    When a city is on red alert it means the heat is so intense it is a threat to the general population, not just the fragile.
    The current heat wave is only the latest in a series to have hit the country this year.
    The high temperatures have made worse the severe drought that Italy is suffering and which has caused massive problems for the nation's agriculture.
    It has also made it easier for the many wildfires, many of which have broken out in recent weeks, to spread faster.
    Scientists say that more frequent and more intense heat waves are among the consequences of climate change caused by human activity. (ANSA).