Large tracts of coastal territory in Eastern Sicily, among the most beautiful and desired places in the world, could be submerged by the waters of the Ionian Sea in 2100.
The alarm is contained in a study financed by the Ministry of University and Research and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), according to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, this Saturday (27).
The study is part of the “Pianeta Dinamico” project carried out in collaboration with the universities Aldo Moro of Bari and Catania and the Dutch Radboud Universiteit.
According to research, the back of Southeast Sicily could suffer progressive submergence in the coming decades due to climate change.
If this worrying scenario occurs, the sea would devour around 10 square kilometers of the southeastern coast of Sicilia.
Sicily at risk: Catania Plain
The study was recently published in the international journal Remote sensing.
“Starting in 1880, sea level began to rise by between 14 and 17 centimeters, but today it is accelerating and rising at a rate of more than 30 centimeters per century,” says Giovanni Scicchitano, associate professor of Geomorphology in the Department of Science. Earth and Geoenvironmental Studies at the University of Bari.
“If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, sea levels could rise by up to 1,1 meters in 2100 and several meters in the coming centuries, with the consequent impact on the coasts. For these reasons, we carried out a study on the scenarios predicted along the eastern coast of Sicily for 2050 and 2100,” adds Scicchitano.
Marco Anzidei, INGV researcher and first author of the research, said: “We calculated projections of sea level rise for different climate scenarios and based on several parameters issued by the IPCC or calculated in this study, including 'thermal sea expansion, melting of continental ice, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the vertical movements of the soil”.
He continues: “The analyzes made it possible to evaluate the scenarios in 6 coastal areas that include the southern part of the Catania plain, the ports of Augusta and Siracusa, the mouth of the Asinaro, Vendicari and Marzamemi”.
Finally, Professor Scicchitano also introduced another delicate topic: “As estimated by several studies published in recent years, under conditions of global warming up to storms may have stronger effects in these coastal areas.”
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