CONSELICE, ITALY - MAY 21: A couple of elderly people waves and thanks a volunteer who just brought them fresh water and food on May 21, 2023 in Conselice, near Ravenna, Italy. Fifteen people have died and forty thou...CONSELICE, ITALY - MAY 21: A couple of elderly people waves and thanks a volunteer who just brought them fresh water and food on May 21, 2023 in Conselice, near Ravenna, Italy. Fifteen people have died and forty thousand have been evacuated from their homes after torrential rain wreaked mayhem in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, causing severe flooding and landslides. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)MORE LESS
Six months worth of rainfall in just 36 hours has devastated Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, leaving nearly 36,000 people unhoused and at least 14 people dead. The disaster affected roughly 100 cities. One of Italy’s more wealthy regions, Emilia-Romagna is home to cities such as Parma, Bologna and Ravenna. Making matters worse, the flooding has caused landslides as the historic rainfall erodes mountains. Researchers have linked recent unprecedented floods in Italy to accelerating climate change.
A volunteer
A volunteer, his face covered in mud, poses for a portrait on May 22, 2023 in Forlì, Italy. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
A couple
A couple walks in the flooded street on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
A man cleans the street
A man cleans the street on May 18, 2023 in Faenza, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
A man rides a bicycle
A man rides a bicycle on a flooded road on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Displaced people
Displaced people at the Palacattani sports centre on May 18, 2023 in Faenza, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Flooded streets in Lugo
Flooded streets on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Stranded cars
Flooded streets on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
More cars
Flooded streets on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Flooded hallway
A resident cleans the flooded road during heavy rains on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Outside a coffee bar
A man sits outside a coffee bar on May 18, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Rescuers
Flooded streets on May 19, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Flooded streets
Flooded streets on May 19, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Rescuers evacuate residents
Rescuers evacuate residents in a dinghy on May 19, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
A landslide caused by flooding
An aerial drone view a landslide in the mountainous and hilly area of the City of Bologna caused by the floods of recent days; 19 May 2023. (Photo by Cecilia Fasciani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A woman and her dog
A woman and her dog are rescued in a dinghy on May 19, 2023 in Lugo, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Displaced people receive meals
Displaced people receive hot meals in a former nunnery run by volunteers on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Delivering supplies
Volunteers accompany two divers from the Italian Coast Guard and two volunteers from the Italian Red Cross to deliver cooked meals and drinking water to families isolated by flooding in Conselice, Emilia Romagna on May 23, 2023. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
More deliveries
Volunteers and the Italian Coast Guard deliver cooked meals and drinking water on May 23, 2023. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Families isolated by flooding
Volunteers and the Italian Coast Guard deliver cooked meals and drinking water on May 23, 2023. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Dog
A dog walks through water near where the Po’ River overflowed on May 21, 2023 in Cardè, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
The Po’ River
General view of the Po’ River overflowing on May 21, 2023 in Cardè, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
Air Force evacuation
The Air Force evacuates people during floods on May 16, 2023 in Cesena, Italy. (Photo by Gianmaria Zanotti/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Flooded car
A flooded car on May 21, 2023 in Conselice, near Ravenna, Italy. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
Drowned pigs
The carcasses of dozens of pigs, drowned during the recent flood, lay in the mud on May 22, 2023 in Albereto, Italy. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
Rare but refreshing smiles
Volunteers joke on May 22, 2023 in Forlì, Italy. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
Joe Ragazzo (@JRagazzo)
is the publisher at TPM, overseeing the design, product and revenue staffs out of the New York City office. Joe used to be a journalist but realized if some journalists don't figure out how to make journalism financially sustainable, there won't be any left. He also says Go Browns.
Obviously someone in Italy, after visiting Venice, made a wish as they were blowing out their birthday candles…
“I wish all Italy was like Venice”
not realizing the consequences…
The carbon footprint of Italians is only about a third that of Americans (5.5 vs. 16 tons), not even counting the higher embodied carbon from imports (about 4 tons per American vs. 2 tons for Italians). Having personally watched a couple of Alpine glacier retreats in the nearby Swiss alps, e.g. Tremorgio, over the decades, it seems a bit unfair that such long-stable cultures pay such a price for climate disruption. I wonder what Ron DeSantis, who is of Italian heritage, plans to do about it. He could, for example, propose to bring US carbon emissions per capita to an Italian level.
These types of disasters (all types, including landslides, flooding, drought, tornadoes, hurricanes, excess heat, and yes, even cold) will become much more frequent in the coming years. Mother Earth is pushing the extremes to new levels.
This level of flooding is coming PDQ to Miami, and a host of other cities in his State. He’ll capitalize on the damage and misery and brand it as a tourist attraction, just like a new Venice.
Everyone worries about the humans, as do I, but those poor pigs drowning breaks my animal loving heart.
Climate change? Nah!
Obviously someone in Italy, after visiting Venice, made a wish as they were blowing out their birthday candles…
“I wish all Italy was like Venice”
not realizing the consequences…
The carbon footprint of Italians is only about a third that of Americans (5.5 vs. 16 tons), not even counting the higher embodied carbon from imports (about 4 tons per American vs. 2 tons for Italians). Having personally watched a couple of Alpine glacier retreats in the nearby Swiss alps, e.g. Tremorgio, over the decades, it seems a bit unfair that such long-stable cultures pay such a price for climate disruption. I wonder what Ron DeSantis, who is of Italian heritage, plans to do about it. He could, for example, propose to bring US carbon emissions per capita to an Italian level.
These types of disasters (all types, including landslides, flooding, drought, tornadoes, hurricanes, excess heat, and yes, even cold) will become much more frequent in the coming years. Mother Earth is pushing the extremes to new levels.
This level of flooding is coming PDQ to Miami, and a host of other cities in his State. He’ll capitalize on the damage and misery and brand it as a tourist attraction, just like a new Venice.
Everyone worries about the humans, as do I, but those poor pigs drowning breaks my animal loving heart.