ROME – The Italian health ministry said on Monday that nine out of 27 big Italian cities will be on red alert by Wednesday as the heat wave that is baking the country and many other parts of Europe intensifies.
At the moment five cities are on red alert, which means the heat is so intense it is a threat to the general population, not just the fragile – Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Latina and Perugia, ANSA news agency reported.
Bologna, Genoa, Rieti and Rome will join them on Wednesday.
The current heat wave is only the latest in a series to have hit the country this year.
The high temperatures have made worse the severe drought that Italy is suffering and which has caused massive problems for the nation’s agriculture.
Farmers’ association Coldiretti has said that Italy’s agriculture sector has suffered over three billion euros in damages due to the drought and the heat and crop yields have been reduced by up to 70 per cent in some cases.
Scientists say that more frequent and more intense heat waves are among the consequences of climate change caused by human activity.
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