‘Crippling’ droughts in Sicily and Sardinia made twice as likely by climate change

The droughts which are crippling Sicily and Sardinia were made twice as likely by human-caused climate change. 

“Without the effects of human-caused warming, the droughts on both islands would not have been classified as extreme [under the US Drought Monitoring Classification system],” according to scientists from World Weather Attribution (WWA). 

Italy's two largest islands have suffered from exceptionally low rainfall and very high temperatures over the past 12 months.

In February and July, Italian authorities even declared a state of emergency for the Mediterranean islands, amid the worst drought in 20 years. 

While it is currently not possible to attribute Sardinia and Sicily’s highly variable rainfall to climate change, the study highlights that blistering heat is turning years with low rainfall into devastating droughts.

Climate-induced droughts are a major issue for these islands where agriculture and tourism are backbones of the economy. Wheat and olive harvests, staples of the Mediterranean diet, are especially badly affected.

Due to the huge losses of wheat, Sicilian farmers have even had to prematurely slaughter animals. 

​​At the end of July, news agency AFP reported that “crushing drought in Sicily has withered fields of grain, deprived livestock of pasture land and fanned a spate of wildfires, causing damage already estimated at €2.7 billion this year.”

In Sardinia, while agriculture is less prominent in the economy, the sector has other uses.

“Crops used to produce Italy’s iconic cuisine, like wheat and olives, are dying in ferocious heat well above 40°C”, says Friederike Otto, co-founder of WWA. 

As the end of the European summer approaches, the drought persists and water reservoirs on both islands are almost