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.
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