In Emilia-Romagna climate change has nothing to do with it. Word of the president of the geologists of Emilia-Romagna
Words and theses by Paride Antolini, president of the Order of Geologists of Emilia-Romagna.
The flood in Emilia-Romagna is not responsible for climate change. To say it is Paride Antolini , President of the Order of Geologists of Emilia-Romagna. “If a levee breaks – Antolini told Corriere della Sera -, climate change has nothing to do with it. It's a maintenance issue." Yet the pouring rains which, causing landslides and flooding, caused the death of 9 people and the displacement of over 13,000 people from their homes, are absolutely exceptional.
THE WETEST MAY OF THE LAST CENTURY
According to Irpi Cnr data, what we are experiencing is the wettest May of the last 70 years. In Emilia-Romagna perhaps the wettest May of the last century. “In some areas of the Ravenna and Forlì Apennines between 400 and 500 mm of rain have fallen since the beginning of the month – said Pierluigi Randi , president of AMPRO (Professional Weather Association) -. Usually, in an entire year, the rainfall here is less than 900. So, it is rain, which fell in just two weeks, which we usually see in more than half a year".
EMILIA-ROMAGNA, SECOND REGION FOR LANDSLIDES
The rain fell on a region which, with almost 80,000 registered phenomena , is the second Italian region , after Lombardy, for the diffusion and extension of landslides on its territory. “The type of rocks and soils that make up our hills and mountains, generally soft rocks, not those massive limestones or granite stones that we can find in other regions – said the geologist Antolini to AGI -. These characteristics, together with the nature of the slopes, make our hills rather fragile from this point of view. We are now facing an exceptional event but landslides in our mountains are recurring with these intended and repeated rainfalls".
IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA ABOUT 90,000 RESIDENTS IN AREAS AT LANDSLIDE RISK
It's not just Emilia-Romagna at risk. According to the Ispra report Hydrogeological instability in Italy: danger and risk indicators of 2021, 93.9% of Italian municipalities (7,423) are at risk from landslides, floods and/or coastal erosion. A sword of Damocles placed on the heads of 8.1 million people: 1.3 million are at risk of landslides and 6.8 million inhabitants at risk of flooding. Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Campania, Veneto, Lombardy, and Liguria are the regions that have the highest number of citizens exposed to hydrogeological risks. In particular, out of 4,342,135 residents in Emilia-Romagna, 86,639 live in areas with high and very high landslide hazards . Emilia-Romagna is also among the regions, together with Campania, Tuscany and Sicily, with the highest number of buildings at risk of landslides in high and very high risk areas. Of the 980,291 buildings in Emilia-Romagna, 89,120 are in landslide areas, including 6,286 in Bologna, 7,544 in the province of Forlì-Cesena, 9,538 in Piacenza, 10,738 in Parma, 6,316 in Reggio Emilia, 7,948 in Modena, 3,484 in Rimini and 1,159 in Ravenna. Businesses are also at risk. It is again Ispra which says that the regions with the highest number of local units of companies at risk of landslides in areas of high and very high risk are Campania, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna , Piedmont and Lazio. Similar data also for cultural heritage in landslide areas, most of which are in Campania, Tuscany, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, and Lazio
100% OF THE POPULATION OF FERRARA AT RISK IN THE EVENT OF A FLOOD
A similar argument applies to flood risk. Once again the Regions with percentages of population exposed to flood risk higher than the national values are Veneto, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. In Emilia-Romagna 428,568 residents, 9.9%, are exposed to a high risk of floods and 2,714,773, 62.5%, to a medium risk. Potentially, in the case of an average hazard scenario, 100% of the population residing in the province of Ferrara is exposed to the risk of flooding . A percentage that drops to 56.1% in Bologna, 53% in Modena, but rises to 64% in Forlì Cesena and 87.3% in Ravenna. Emilia-Romagna is also among the regions with the highest percentages of buildings exposed to flood risk, together with Valle d'Aosta, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Tuscany. Out of a total of 980,291 buildings, 99,710 are exposed to a high risk, 578,088 to a medium risk.
ANTOLINI: "CLIMATE CHANGE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT"
The Ispra data make it quite clear how essential it is to operate in a preventive manner to protect a fragile territory. "The problem of hydrogeological instability is not resolved with large projects, but with application in the territories : in the mountains with reforestation and maintenance of the woods in such a way as to prevent the water from descending en masse to the valleys – continues the President of the Order of Geologists of Emilia-Romagna -. In the plains, widening the river channels, building expansion tanks, observing the condition of the banks and I simply say: if a bank breaks, climate change has nothing to do with it . It's a maintenance issue. Like structures, soils also lose their characteristics over time. And if you don't observe them, you can't intervene". Emilia-Romagna is also in the first places for soil consumption. “In this direction it will be necessary to make careful subsequent evaluations – continues Antolini -. Something will have to be done; what we will try to understand with a clear head, in the light of the exceptional nature of the event. We need to understand if we are moving towards climate change with exceptional events”.
RESOURCES: IN 2021 100 MILLION ALLOCATED TO HYDROGEOLOGICAL RISK IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA
Legislative Decree 73/2021 , the Sostegni bis decree, has allocated an expenditure of 100 million euros for the year 2021 to deal with the exceptional meteorological events, for which a state of emergency has been declared, in the Provinces of Bologna, of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia. Yet, resources are scarce. “ There is a lack of personnel, especially qualified ones – Paride Antolini remarked again – . At the decision-making level, it must be understood that managing a network as complex as that of watercourses has nothing to do with the ordinary".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/in-emilia-romagna-il-cambiamento-climatico-non-centra-parola-del-presidente-dei-geologi-dellemilia-romagna/ on Thu, 18 May 2023 05:12:04 +0000.