{"id":19595,"date":"2024-06-27T10:14:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T08:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etifor.com\/en\/?p=19595"},"modified":"2026-10-05T14:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:13:24","slug":"drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etifor.com\/en\/updates\/drought\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought emergency: how climate crisis and human activities affect water crisis<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Water crisis” and “Drought emergency” are what, more and more often, is reported in the media in Italy in the face of increasingly intense drought periods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some effects of climate change, such as high temperatures and low rainfall, are among the significant causes of drought. Especially in Italy, the situation is exacerbated by unsustainable management of water resources and outdated infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the latest IPCC report<\/a>, conditions could even worsen. In fact, analyses of future climate scenarios <\/span>predict an increased risk of drought,<\/b> with a particularly significant increase in the Mediterranean region.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is meant by drought? A complex and multidimensional phenomenon<\/h2>\n

Drought is generally <\/span>defined<\/span><\/a> as a phenomenon that develops gradually following a <\/span>long period of low rainfall,<\/b> causing a hydrogeological imbalance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, since it is a complex and multidimensional event, its definition often remains subject to flexible interpretations. <\/span>Different types of droughts<\/b> are interrelated but vary according to the duration of the event. The four categories of droughts can be summarized as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Meteorological drought:<\/b> constitutes the most common definition, referring to drought as a persistent lack of rainfall, often accompanied by other climatic factors such as high temperatures, intense winds and low humidity aggravating the event.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Agricultural drought:<\/b> develops when the continued absence of precipitation (meteorological drought) results in a decrease in soil moisture, causing water stress on plants and thus reducing crop yields.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Hydrological drought<\/b> occurs when a persistent soil moisture deficit decreases stream flow and water storage in reservoirs, significantly reducing water availability.<\/li>\n
  4. Socio-economic and environmental drought:<\/b> includes the set of impacts resulting from the imbalance between water resource availability and demand in the social sphere, in protecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and in economic activities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>
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    What are the causes of drought? How human beings contribute to increased risk of water scarcity<\/h2>\n

    Drought is a <\/span>natural phenomenon<\/b> whose main trigger is the variability of rainfall or snowfall (for high-altitude areas). However, the increase in drought episodes that have occurred in recent years, both in terms of duration, frequency, and intensity, can <\/span>be attributed mainly to anthropogenic activities.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    Human actions over the past century have generated increasingly evident<\/span> climatic changes: <\/b><\/a>rising temperatures and changes in precipitation and snowfall regimes contribute to making <\/span>drought events increasingly common and impactful<\/b>. In Italy, for example, increasingly dry winters are <\/span>observed<\/span><\/a>, with a reduction in snowfall in the Alps, which is critical for replenishing reservoirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Human activities also contribute to increased <\/span>water scarcity <\/b>or water stress, which occurs when the demand for water resources exceeds the availability of natural ecosystems. These actions include:<\/span><\/p>\n