The WWF said Monday that Italy is in a
"permanent state of climate calamity" after the latest in a long
series of waves of extreme weather caused massive damage in
northern Italy at the weekend.
The Italian branch of the NGO said a group of young people
taking part in a summer camp it organized in Cogne were among
the people who had to be evacuated via helicopter after
mudslides caused by flooding and torrential rain blocked the
regional highway to the Aosta Valley town on the slopes of the
Gran Paradiso mountain and knocked out water supplies.
"It's increasingly clear that we are experiencing a new
'permanent state of climate calamity', where the climate crisis
is the greatest risk to citizen's safety, with record
temperatures and extreme heat alternating with violent rainfall
and devastating floods," the WWF said.
"What happened in Cogne is caused by climate change, which is
causing extreme events that were once very rare to multiply,
making them almost daily, but it also highlights all of our
country's delays in tackling, predicting and mitigating it".
Scientists say the climate crisis is caused by human greenhouse
gas emissions.
Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are
causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil
fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge
profits for the world's energy giants.
The WWF called on the Italian government to approve a climate
law and implement the national climate change adaptation plan
approved in December.
(see related story).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
