This article appears in the June 2, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
[Print version of this article]
APPEAL TO THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
Build the Infrastructure That
Will Save Lives by Preventing Flooding
On May 20, 2023, eleven eminent scientists, members of the Italian branch, CLINTEL-Italia, of the Climate Intelligence Foundation, published the following statement rejecting the proposition promoted by climate zombies, that the current flooding in Italy is a result of man-made climate change. The scientists cite data of similar and even more severe flooding in the past, and call for infrastructure investment to prevent such flooding in the future.
We, the undersigned of CLINTEL-Italia, former earlier promoters of the declaration/petition, “There Is No Climate Emergency,” sent to Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Republic, and authors of the recently published book, Dialoghi sul Clima—Tra Emergenza e Conoscenza (Dialogue on Climate—Between Emergency and Knowledge), regarding the recent sad events caused by the flood in Romagna, we observe that scientific studies also reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) themselves conclude that there is insufficient evidence that the probability or magnitude of flood events can be attributed to human influence on climate.
Numerous and disastrous floods have visited Italy in the past. Just to give a few examples: in September 1557 in Palermo (7,000 dead) and, a few days later, in Florence; in October 1951 in Calabria (68 dead) and, a few days later, in Polesine (101 dead); in November 1966 in Florence (47 dead) and, a few days later, in the Triveneto (87 dead), when all the rivers of the Adige basin overflowed and in Venice the high tide reached 2 meters.
Climate change should not be confused—as is too often heard from the media and from the statements of some political leaders—with meteorological events, and floods do not depend only on meteorological and climatic events but also on geomorphology and land use. The causes of damage due to flood events, which are wrongly associated with changes in the climate, are instead due almost entirely to the lack of prevention, incorrect human land-use planning and construction choices, and to a wrong reading of the territory and of river and marine systems in their continuing dynamism.
This moment should be a fundamental one for politicians to finally see, in a coherent, multi-faceted way: the geology of land and of the sea, meteorology and climatology, and land-use planning.
Over 280 cubic kilometers of water rains on Italy every year, compared to the country’s need of less than 20 cubic kilometers. It is therefore necessary to take measures of general water management—creating mountain reservoirs, expansion basins, levies, and whatever else the best hydraulic engineering and geological sciences have to offer—and improve the meteorological risk management system of the Civil Protection [the national body in Italy responsible for prediction, prevention, and management of emergency events]. For example, via improving nowcasting systems [very short-term forecasting]. Such measures will better protect the population from alluvial phenomena, on the one hand, and on the other, will allow, in times of abundant rainfall, the collection and storage of excess water for distribution in dry periods.
Reducing the use of coal, oil, and gas with the aim of mitigating the climate in order to prevent environmental disasters is not only illusory but, worse, it diverts resources from being applied to measures whose effectiveness has been proven.
We therefore urge the government not to justify an ostensible aim of protecting us from adverse weather events, initiatives of illusory energy transition to technologies that are inadequate to the needs of our society, due to their unreliability and intermittency.
Instead, we urge you to adopt measures that achieve greater protection of our country than is currently the case. The example of earthquake-generated damage shows that areas of our country are under-protected and exposed to sporadic events—a circumstance that will continue to confront us with situations similar to the one our fellow citizens are experiencing today.
Signers
Uberto Crescenti: Emeritus Professor of Applied Geology, University of Chieti-Pescara; former Rector and President, Italian Geological Society; President, CLINTEL-Italia.
Alberto Prestininzi: Professor of Applied Geology (formerly at La Sapienza University of Rome); Ambassador for Italy, International CLINTEL Foundation.
Franco Battaglia: Professor of Physical Chemistry (formerly at the Universities of Roma Tre and Modena).
Mario Giaccio: Professor of Economics of Energy Sources, University of Chieti-Pescara (former Dean, Faculty of Economics).
Enrico Miccadei: Professor of Physical Geography and Geomorphology, University of Chieti-Pescara.
Giuliano Panza: Professor of Geophysics (formerly at the University of Trieste); honorary professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Emeritus Professor, Institute of Geophysics of the China Earthquake Administration; Academician, Academia dei Lincei, and of the National Academy of Sciences (dei XL).
Ernesto Pedrocchi: Emeritus Professor of Energetics, Milan Polytechnic.
Franco Prodi: Professor of Atmospheric Physics (formerly at the University of Ferrara); former Director, National Research Council’s Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC).
Renato Angelo Ricci: Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Padua; Honorary President, Italian Physics Society (former President, European Physics Society).
Nicola Scafetta: Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Oceanography, Federico II University, Naples.
Ugo Spezia: Nuclear engineer; former SoGIN manager.
