Satellite Images Show How Much Italy's Longest River Has Shrunk In 2 Years

Global warming has created a number of issues, like rising temperatures, resultant glacier melting and inundation of coastal areas due to rising sea levels. But in Italy, it has led to a drought-like situation in the famous Po River.

The river is the longest in Italy and is experiencing record low water levels this year after months without significant rainfall.

Satellite images of the drought-hit river have been shared on Twitter by European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Observation. It depicts an area of the Po Valley near Piacenza and how much the river has shrunk between June 2020 and June 2022.

.@esa Member and Cooperating States series: #Vilnius

Vilnius is situated in southeastern #Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states. pic.twitter.com/gYZTfUokcb

— ESA EarthObservation (@ESA_EO) June 29, 2022

The huge river, which stretches from the Alps in the northwest to the Adriatic Sea on the east coast, is an essential supply of water for several regions in Italy. It provides drinking water, irrigates vast areas of farmland, and generates hydroelectricity in northern Italy, the agency said in a release.

High temperatures and lack of snow in the mountains that feed the river is also a cause for the drought situation.

According to the Po River observatory, many of these areas have now been without any rain at all for more than 110 days.

The Po River used to be a long stretch of murky water, but it has now dried up which has exposed vast stretches of sand.

The Po Valley, which provides around 40% of Italy's food, including wheat, rice, and tomatoes, is the most significant agricultural region in the nation. Farmers are finding it difficult to maintain agricultural irrigation due to the continuous drought, and several municipalities in the Po Valley have been instructed to limit water at night due to the dryness.

New findings from the ESA-funded CAREHeat project show that the Mediterranean Sea is presently experiencing a marine heatwave, with May 2022 temperatures being 4 degrees Celsius higher than average for the 1985-2005 time period. The measurements show that the temperature of the surface water peaked at around 23 degrees Celsius.