by In Trieste
“Piazza Unità and Molo Audace could be under water in less than 50 years.”At the climate change conference on Wednesday night in the Region’s headquarters in Piazza Unità researchers and local politicians spoke about the urgency of action as well as the need for an imminent change.
Fabio Scoccimarro, Regional Councilor for Environmental Quality, Energy and Sustainable Development, opened the event by saying how honored he was to be there and added: “ to see our region propel forward in scientific research is very exciting.” Scoccimarro underlined that “energy, climate and the defense should be on the forefront of our region’s to do list.”
Filippo Giorgi (ICTP) nobel prize winner warned the audience that “global warming and climate change are in escalation. Italy has been hit the hardest with climate change and we’re no longer talking about future but we are talking about the present moment, we are talking about now.”
“Everything’s getting worse and the situation is more threatening than we have ever imagined. It is especially difficult for our country where heat waves have become ever more common” said Nobel Prize winner Filippo Giorgi. He finished his speech by encouraging the listeners for action: “If we don’t act mow the problem will be much more difficult to resolve later. Timing is the key.”
“We need to get ready to lose all of our glaciers. It’s a fact,” added Florence Colleoni, researcher from OGS. “And if they continue to melt, we can expect the sea level to rise 4 cm- that means Molo Audace and Piazza Unità under water every time there’s high tide. In the worst case scenario, the sea levels can rise a few meters which would leave all lower part of Trieste under water. In the best case scenario, the sea level will rise a few cm. It’s important to understand that some things are irreversible”. Florence finished her speech by saying that “so far we’ve just been living with promises and it’s time to take action”.
Andrea Cicogna from Arpa FVG, meteorological observatory chimed in by saying “it’s time for action. The clear example of global warming out here is the fact that not enough rain falls down throughout summer in Friuli Venezia Giulia thus changing our region’s biosphere. We can make many global changes starting locally.”
Environmentalist, professor Solido from OGS closed the meeting by exemplifying the ways FVG’s climate changed in recent years. He stated that global warming will change the acidity of our seas, as well as its level and there will be the presence of new species. He added that “we can’t expect that technology solves 100% of our problems. There’s a clear limit to technological growth.”
The conference was organized by Friuli Venezia Giulia region along with National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics.
