Climate, in Italy 351 extreme events in 2024: six times more in 10 years

The year 2024 was marked by 134 cases of flooding from heavy rainfall, 62 cases of wind damage, 46 river floods causing damage, 34 events with damage from prolonged droughts, 30 cases of hailstorm damage, 19 cases of landslides caused by heavy rainfall, 9 cases of damage to infrastructure, 8 cases of damage from storm surges, 2 cases of damage to historical heritage, and 1 case of record temperatures.

Northern Italy is the most affected with 198 extreme weather events, followed by the South, 92, and the Centre, 61. At the regional level, Emilia-Romagna, with 52 events, is the region most affected by the climate crisis this year, followed by Lombardy (49), Sicily (43), Veneto (41) and Piedmont (22).

Among the provinces, Bologna tops the list with 17 extreme weather events, followed by Ravenna and Rome both at 13, Turin with 12 and Palermo with 11.

Among large cities, the capital is the most affected with 8 extreme weather events, followed by Genoa (7) and Milan (6). Legambiente also points out the consequences that extreme weather events are causing on transport in general: 22 of them caused damage and delays to trains and local public transport in the Peninsula in 2024.

"In 2024, Italy," says Stefano Ciafani, national president of Legambiente, "has been unprepared. The Meloni government, in more than two years, has not put in place any prevention strategy with targeted interventions, which would save 75% of the resources spent to repair post-emergency damage, and has not allocated the necessary funding forthe priority actions of the Pnacc, funds that are not even foreseen in the budget law that has just been approved".

"It is also urgent to pass a law to stop soil consumption, a problem addressed in an ideological way with the Dl Agricoltura by banning photovoltaics on the ground, and the Dpr to facilitate the reuse of purified wastewater on agricultural land. The real threats to Italian agriculture are, in fact, the climate crisis and cementification, not the European green deal'.

"Among the growing number of extreme weather events," adds Andrea Minutolo, scientific director of Legambiente, "the phenomenon of drought, which has struck Italy on several occasions in recent years, is worrying. This summer's symbol is Lake Pergusa, in the province of Enna, reduced more or less to a puddle. The emergency in Sicily is the result of the Po drought of 2022 and a trend linked to the ever-changing climate crisis that is a stark warning. This is why it is important for the country to define a national strategy of water management, more careful and circular, with concrete interventions that favour adaptation to climate change and allow for an immediate reduction in water withdrawals while also avoiding waste'.

The regions most affected by drought in 2024 were Sicily (16 events), Sardinia (9), Basilicata (3).

On the flooding front, Lombardy stands out (with 25 extreme weather events), followed by Emilia-Romagna (22) and Sicily (15). In terms of river floods, Emilia-Romagna is in first place (with 14 events), followed by Lombardy (8) and Veneto (5).