Drought that caused Italy's longest river to shrink

CHENNAI: The effects of the planet's ravaging environment may be seen everywhere. Countries in Europe are experiencing the worst drought while portions of India are still recovering from floods. Italy is one of those nations that has been severely impacted by the year's low rainfall, and satellites have detected the changes taking place on Earth from orbit.

Using a Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, the European Space Agency has published photographs of the Po River, the longest in Italy, which is currently experiencing a water problem. The photographs show significant changes in the river as the water level declines and its impacts are evident as a significant portion of the nation is experiencing drought.

The space agency demonstrates in a video how the river has drastically reduced between June 2020 and June 2022 by displaying a section of the Po Valley near Piacenza.

Significant causes of the shortage in Italy, besides the poor rainfall, include the rising warmth and the meager snowfall from the mountains.

The 652-kilometer-long Po River, which is Italy's largest river basin covering an area of more than 71,000 square kilometers, runs through the entire Po Valley from west to east. It serves as the world's largest freshwater reservoir, and farmers use a sizable section of it for farming.

According to the Po River observatory, some areas have gone more than 110 days without any rain.

The river has significantly decreased in size between June 2020 and July 2022 due to the worst drought the region has experienced in 70 years, according to reports.

Now that the Po River, which previously covered a large area with murky water, has dried up, there are wide swaths of deserted beaches. The valley is Italy's most important agricultural region and provides around 40% of the country's food, including wheat, rice, and tomatoes. Due to the ongoing drought, farmers are finding it difficult to manage crop irrigation, and many municipalities in the Po Valley have been told to restrict water use at night because of the dryness.

The city's fountains will be turned off as a result of the drought-related water restrictions, according to Milan's mayor, who made this announcement a few days ago. An emergency order would require the "closure of all fountains, except for those in parks with lakes and irrigation ditches where animals and flora are present," according to a statement from the mayor of Milan.

The Mediterranean Sea is also experiencing a marine heatwave, with May 2022 temperatures being 4°C higher than average for the 1985–2005 period. The results show that the surface water temperature peaked at over 23 degrees Celsius.