Number of major cities on heatwave red alert to rise to 19 Saturday

The health ministry said Thursday

that the number of cities with red warnings for extreme heat

will rise to 19 on Saturday.

On Thursday 15 of the 27 major cities the health ministry

monitors for its warnings were on maximum alert - Turin,

Brescia, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Perugia, Viterbo, Rieti,

Rome, Frosinone, Latina, Pescara, Campobasso, Cagliari and

Palermo.

Milan will join them on Friday, taking the total up to 16, and

then Ancona, Civitavecchia and Catania will be bumped up to red

alert on Saturday.

The red warning (Level 3) indicates a heatwave emergency with

prolonged heat and a high general risk to health, even for young

people in good health.

Italy is enduring its third major heatwave of the year.

Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse

gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as

heatwaves, droughts, supercharged storms and flooding more

frequent and more intense.

Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are

causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil

fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge

profits for the world's energy giants.

(see related stories).

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