Too little water in famous Venice canals: sometimes gondolas can no longer pass | Abroad

Venice is usually worried about possible flooding – as it was in December – but now the water in the well-known canals is unusually low. Due to the extreme low tide, gondolas, water taxis and ambulances can no longer sail through in some places. This is due to a combination of factors: a lack of rain, a high pressure area, a full moon and sea tides. Lately, less than half of the snow fell in the Alps than usual.

Italy’s rivers are suffering, especially in the north of the country. The Po, Italy’s longest river, received 61 percent less water than usual for this time of year. The valley around the river, which flows from the Alps in the northwest to the Adriatic Sea, accounts for about a third of Italy’s agricultural output. The water level of Lake Garda also records a record low. You can now walk over a path that has become visible to the island of San Biagio. And near Pavia in the Po Valley, the water is three meters below zero. There are now beaches on the banks, which the Italians normally only see in the summer.

According to Massimiliano Pasqui of the Italian research center CNR, his country has been struggling with a water shortage since the winter of 2020-2021 that is getting worse. “We need to make up for 500mm in the northwestern regions. We need 50 days of rain,” explains Pasqui in the newspaper ‘Corriere della Sera’. Climatologist Luca Mercalli wants to “wait for spring, when most rain usually falls in the Po valley”. According to him, there is “a good chance” that the rain in April and May can still rectify the situation. “It is our last hope. If we don’t get rain in the spring for the second year in a row, that would be the first time ever.”

The milder temperatures of the last two weeks are related to an anticyclone that dominates the weather. The latest weather forecasts do announce rain and snow in the Alps for the next few days.