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Summer temperatures across parts of Europe continue to spike, and the negative impacts of climate change are most forcefully felt on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. That's where European heat records were set last summer. And since then, the island has experienced its worst drought in recent history. As Willem Marx reports, farmers, in particular, are taking a hit from the heat.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: A short drive outside the town of Pedalino, in central Sicily, a slow-motion business disaster is taking place this summer.
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MARX: Beyond the barking dogs, a variety of trees and shrubs stand in rows beneath the morning sunshine, several days since they were last watered.
ROSARIO DI GERONIMO: (Speaking Italian).
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MARX: My guide at this remote citrus plantation is Rosario Di Geronimo - Saro, to his friends.
DI GERONIMO: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: It's just after 8:00 a.m., and the heat is already uncomfortable as he guides me through the parched grass. At 76 years old, he's the fourth generation in his family to grow citrus trees in this part of Sicily, where he now manages more than 120 acres. But after 50 years working in these orchards, he says this growing season may be his last.
DI GERONIMO: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: "This year is very difficult because of this drought that's gripping us," he tells me. "And a terrible drought because it hasn't rained here since June of last year." A year, I ask him.
DI GERONIMO: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: "A year and a month that it hasn't rained," he says, "besides ridiculous little drizzles that have done nothing."
DI GERONIMO: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: "The water company has turned off the water," he explains. "They aren't giving us any more water because, according to them, there isn't any, but there is. It's terrible 'cause we don't know when we'll next get water. We last watered the trees on Saturday, and we don't know now if they'll turn the taps back on. An event like this is very serious."
Some short-term funding from the local government is now available to livestock farmers, but almost nothing is on offer for others, says Graziano Scardino, president of the Italian Farmers Confederation in Sicily, an advocacy group.
GRAZIANO SCARDINO: (Speaking Italian).
MARX: "The local government is now trying to limit damage to all crops and has issued a state of emergency for the entire region," he explains. It has also passed a local law focused on confronting the disaster, but this also needs approval from the Italian central government. This year's drought is not a short-term problem with short-term solutions either says Ramona Magno, scientific coordinator at Sicily's Osservatorio Siccita, or Drought Observatory.
RAMONA MAGNO: In the last 20 years, there is an increase of the climate variability and of changes in the opposite extreme events - drought and heavy rainfalls. This is one of the worst drought that Sicily are facing. Moreover, we can say that Sicily is the most arid region of Italy, and more than 70% of its territory is at risk of desertification.
MARX: She says this prolonged drought affects many people on the island besides just those growing citrus, grapes, olives or wheat. Hay for livestock is also in short supply, forcing many animals to be slaughtered earlier than planned. Energy generated through hydropower has fallen drastically too. And in several towns, taps are running dry in homes as well, with restrictions meaning some residents only receive water every three days. All this is only worsening as the summer heat hits hard, with temperatures above 100 appearing frequently throughout July across much of the island. For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx, in Pedalino, Sicily.
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