How the climate is changing in Italy: in the North, two degrees more than in 2010

Two degrees more in 13 years. Global warming is hitting hardest in the North, where the average annual temperature measured in provincial capitals has risen from 13.1° C in 2010 to 15.1° C in 2023. An average of the averages which, on the one hand, flattens out the peaks, but on the other hand allows us to measure in concrete terms - thermometers in hand - the effects of climate change.

The average increase is slightly lower in the centre, at 1.8 degrees, and even lower in the urban centres of southern Italy, where in the last thirteen years, however, records have been set - particularly in Sicily - for the highest summer temperature ever recorded in Europe.

The rise in temperatures emerges from the elaboration of the moving average of annual temperatures (calculated over the three-year period) from 3bmeteo's meteorological readings in 112 cities: more than 2,000 weather stations spread across the country extract data every six hours. The data of the well-known weather forecast portal were elaborated by the research office of Il Sole 24 Ore.

The results attest to the soaring temperatures of the last decade, which many research centres confirm have been more pronounced than in previous periods.

The different impact of the current phenomenon, whether in the north or south of the country, is linked to the numerous other meteorological phenomena that influence temperatures, primarily winds and variable weather conditions. Geography also affects these trends: land warms up much more easily than areas bordering the sea. Finally, the melting of the glaciers in the Western Alps fuels the increase in local temperatures more than the average in the north, compared to other areas of the peninsula.