Monday,
January 08, 2007
Italy Alarmed About Climate Change and Disease-
Drought- Desertification
Not
only is Malaria back in Italy,
but also tick-borne encephalitis, and visceral leishmaniasis,
carried by sandflies.
Droughts
are sure to cause a problem. Of 6 sustained droughts in Italy in the
last 60 years 4 have been since 1990.
Ten
million hectares "are at risk of desertification".
It
sounds like if immediate steps are not taken for greater water supplies in Southern Italy (Desalting Plants, or
Giant
Aqueducts, Southern Italy will meet the same fate of Sicily, which is arid now, but once was the
"breadbasket of the Mediterranean",
with a great abundance of fruits and vegetables.
Climate Change
Brings Malaria Back to Italy
The Guardian Unlimited
Tom Kington in Rome
Saturday January 6, 2007
Sandwiched
between temperate Europe and African heat, Italy is on the front line of
climate change and is witnessing a rise in tropical diseases such as malaria
and tick-borne encephalitis, a new report says.
Italy was declared free of
malaria in 1970, but it is making a comeback, said the Italian environmental organisation Legambiente.
Tick-borne encephalitis, a virus which attacks the nerve system, is also on the
way back. While only 18 cases had been reported before 1993, 100 have been
since, mostly around Venice.
"Illnesses
are arriving from Africa, while tropical animals and plants are attacking our
biodiversity, droughts and flooding are on the rise, and semi-desert areas are
appearing," said Legambiente's director general,
Francesco Ferrante.
A third ailment,
visceral leishmaniasis, carried by sandflies and potentially fatal, is expanding rapidly, the
report added. Cases in Italy
have risen to 150 a year from 50 before 2000, with the
southern region of Campania
a hotspot.
Of six sustained
droughts in Italy
in the last 60 years four have occurred since 1990. The average temperature has
increased by 0.4C in the north in 20 years and by 0.7C in the south. Ten
million hectares "are at risk of desertification".
Twenty percent of
the fish now swimming in the Mediterranean, including barracuda, are types that
have migrated from the Red Sea as water
temperatures rise.
Italy's combination of sea
coast, mountains, deep valleys and plains gives rise to a rich variety of food
products but climate change could tip the balance, Mr
Ferrante said. "We are at the southern edge of
the globe's temperate area and that is why Italy is being particularly hit by
the collapse of the climatic equilibrium."
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