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Starting in the east, the Po River expands the lands of Italy flowing westward. Draining into the Adriatic Sea, the river dispels 48,400 cubic feet of water per second (Britannica). The  drainage basin itself spans 27,062 miles through large cities and towns such as Turin, Milan, Piacenza, Cremona and Ferrara. Playing a major role in the nation, the flow the river provides for the stability and foundation of the country.

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While the range of climates experienced in Italy vary on location, the Po River is apart of the mild Mediterranean climate. Precipitation levels are between 25 to 40 inches per year on average (https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/italy). However, the rainfall has decreased around 20% in the last 30 years. The water quality of the river while moderate has been a point of concern for the nation. Measurement based of the entirety of the river estimates around 200 acres per year of sediment that flows within the Po (Britannica). Many stations, too, are located on the river to monitor the quality and the results are often shard and posted monthly.

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A majority if the Italy population is located in the northern part of the country. The surrounding basin of the Po is home to 16 million people as it extends over 24% of the Italy territory (World of Wildlife). Due to this large population surrounding this water source it is mostly used for agricultural purposes. Over 90% of the area is used for rice farms, cereals, grasses, and fruit trees (World of Wildlife). Italy is dependent on the fruits, vegetables, and grains grown in the abundant nutrients surrounding the Po.

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As mentioned in the previous post, 90% of the basin is used for growth of meaning that a large sum of water is used to supplement that. The produce and grains require 17 billion cubic meters of water every year alone (Edwards). The leading threat to this is the drought the country has been experiencing. With the water levels decreasing over long periods of time, coalitions such as the Po River Basin Management Plan have become established.

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The source of the Po pictured with flowing water. Photo: Photoerick/ Depositphotos

The source of Italy's River Po has completely dried up due to prolonged drought this summer, with knock-on effects for agricultural production across the northern region.

On the Monviso mountain in Piedmont, a rock proclaims: "Here begins the Po", marking the source of the 652 kilometre river, which is the longest in Italy.

The mountain has been name-checked in literature by prominent authors around the world, including in the prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and by Dante in the Commedia, where he uses the long river as a simile for a waterway in hell.

But now the spring is dry - an extremely rare event due to the chronic drought Italy has experienced in recent months.

READ ALSO: Seven-year-old finds woolly mammoth bone near River Po

A map of the Po Valley with the course of the river marked. Image: NordNordWest/Wikimedia Commons

Across the Po basin as a whole, there was ten percent less rainfall in August 2017 than the same month last year, according to data from the environmental protection agency, Arpa Piedmont.

This is bad news for agriculture; grains, cereals and wine grapes all grown along the banks of the Po, and they require 17 billion cubic metres of water every year. The effect of drought on on grass and crops has also put livestock under stress, with a resulting fall in milk production.

Italian consumer organization Coldiretti said the drought in the Po basin "threatens more than a third of Italian farm production, as well as more than half the farms".

The Po's source pictured in summer 2016.

After the second hottest spring in 60 years, and the driest in the same period, Italy's lakes and reservoirs were left severely depleted. In April, the water level of the Po was almost a metre below what it was in the same period last year.

And over summer, the lack of water led Rome to turn off many of its public drinking fountains, while the Vatican switched off its monumental fountains in a 'show of solidarity'.

The effects of the drought are clearly visible in the NASA images below, taken a year apart.

The drought, coupled with a heatwave nicknamed 'Lucifer', also caused deadly wildfires which damaged vast swathes of farmland and has had a severe impact on agriculture, with both olive and wine production expected to fall significantly this autumn as a result.

In some areas, the wine harvest got off to its earliest start in a decade due to the unusual heat.

READ ALSO: Five ways climate change is affecting Italy

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The source of Italy's longest river has dried up due to drought

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The source of the Po pictured with flowing water. Photo: Photoerick/ Depositphotos The source of Italy's River Po has completely dried up due to prolonged drought this summer, with knock-on effects for agricultural production across the northern region.

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While the entirety of the Po River lies within the borders of Italy, the use of the river is often contemplated by different organizations. These organizations are located within different cities along the river. Due to this some may not work with others or even care to help those further down stream. It has been a point of contention in these cities as the quality and quantity of the water begins to diminish.

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With abundant intervention of the human population, the lands surrounding the area have become extremely urbanized with the loss of marshes becoming more prevalent. Dams, too, also face lower levels which essentially mean that what was made to help water levels has only served to harm the surrounding vegetation in the multitude of farms (McMacken). Also, there ha been an increasing biomass of the lotus, a fast-growing, aggressive exotic plant, which, in addition to hampering the flow of water through river channels, is also suffocating the original native flora (World of Wildlife). While other invasive species are also causing issues, so are introduced species such as stone moroko fish and the wels catfish.

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The region surrounding the PO are crucial for breeding, resting, and feeding for many different bird species. It serves as the most important heron breeding area in Italy for squacco heron, black-crowned night-heron, and little egret. The Po Basin also contains the only nesting site in Italy of pygmy cormorant. Furthermore, the globally threatened ferruginous duck is also a resident of the basin (pictured below). There are regularly more than 20,000 waterbirds present. Several endemic species of fish are present, and the valleys function as nurseries for many species, including some that are rare and/or threatened.

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Climate Change and its effect on the Po River

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Climate Change and its effect on the Po River

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Temperatures have begin to rise in Italy.  In the years 2003 and 2006-2007, the area experienced extreme drought periods while the temperature now has increased by two degrees celsius since 1960 (Rossi). Due to this, water levels have decreased substantially and farmers have begun to have a difficult time growing their crops. Financially, this too causes a rise in prices for certain crops meaning less money flow within Italy making the country stumble economically. Not only that, but the farmers themselves begin to suffer and lose profit in sustaining their jobs

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Franco Varani plants tomatoes close to the river. Tomatoes are one plant that needs a large sum of water, usually taken from the river, to have successful growth. Varani managed to give water to 13 hectares of tomatoes while the other 48 hectares were not given an adequate amount (Rossi). This of course is only an example of one farmer but because of the loss of tomato production, the prices of the crop will increase. This increase will make it very difficult for people that may be struggling to buy tomatoes at that price.

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FIORENZUOLA D'ARDA, Italy (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Po River, Italy's largest reservoir of freshwater, is thirsty.

A severe drought that has lasted months and shows no signs of easing has led to a fall in water reserves, raising fears about coming harvests and putting a huge strain on the river valley's crucial agricultural sector.

The alarm was first raised in June, when an exceptional heat wave forced several mayors and governors to declare a state of emergency and take restrictive measures, including water rationing.

Farmers, by far the largest users of the Po's waters - taking around 16.5 billion cubic meters out of 20.5 billion extracted each year - have been the most severely affected.

"I've never seen anything like this in my whole life," said Franco Varani, an 81-year-old farmer from Piacenza province, in the Emilia-Romagna region, where 35 percent of "Made in Italy" farm and food production is concentrated.

Much of Varani's land is planted to tomatoes, which are his family's main source of income. But tomatoes are one the most water-intensive crops, requiring over 12 liters to grow a single fruit.

To irrigate his crop, the farmer relies on water from the nearby Mignano dam, a small structure that supplies his agricultural district with water from the Arda River, a tributary of the Po.

Last month, however, the dam was closed for the first time in its 80-year history. With almost no water available, Varani managed to adequately irrigate just 13 hectares out of 61. Now crops on the remaining land are wilting, and much of the harvest will be lost.

"For a small business like ours, this is a tragedy," Varani said.

Farmers spend an average of 6,000 euros ($7,000) per hectare to grow tomatoes, he said. This year, much of that investment will be lost.

"We have experienced bad times in the past, but we've always managed to get through everything pretty well," the tomato farmer said. "This time is different. I don't know whether we will be able to go on."

LOW WATER, HIGH LOSSES

As water availability runs low, the country is counting the damage. According to a recent report by Coldiretti, Italy's main farmer's association, the unusual weather this year has so far caused losses for 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) across the Italian agricultural sector.

Most of the damage occurred in the Po River basin, Italy's most important agricultural area, and an important farming area for the whole of Europe, the report said.

Flowing for 650 kilometers (400 miles) from the French border on the west to the Adriatic Sea on the east, the Po's waters drain a catchment basin of about 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 square miles), crossing seven regions and including over 3,200 municipalities.

More than 16 million people-nearly 25 percent of all Italians-live in this fertile expanse, which plays a pivotal role in the Italian economy, producing 35 percent of national agricultural production and roughly 40 percent of the country's GDP.

This year is hardly the first time the Po River basin has seen drought. Major dry periods hit the area in the last decade, in 2003 and in 2006-2007.

Now, however, rising temperatures appear to be contributing to the region's problems, including making its reservoirs dry more quickly.

Climate data show that the average annual temperature in the Po River basin increased by about 2 degrees Celsius since 1960, with increases particularly evident in summer. At the same time, average annual rainfall diminished by about 20 percent over the last 30 years.

A recent study by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) predicted that worsening climate change-related water scarcity and increasing water demand as a result of economic and social development "would amplify the current water stress".

"The current drought the Po River basin is experiencing isn't an outlier," said Paola Mercogliano, a senior researcher at CMCC and one of the authors of the study.

"It's rather part of a trend where climate change will make droughts more serious, increasing the frequency and severity of such events in all southern and southeastern Europe over the next decades," she said.

HOT AND DRY FUTURE

According to the study's findings, climate change-induced warming will result in a consistent reduction of water availability in summer in the whole Po River basin, while high temperatures, coupled with earlier snow melt, will lead to a longer growing season and subsequently more days of water demand from plants.

Besides substantially reducing river flows, changing weather patterns will also increase the frequency of extreme rainfall and floods, it said.

"The Po Plain used to be extraordinary water-rich, and hence we got used to a situation where water has always been available for any purpose," said Silvano Pecora, a member of Arpae, the Regional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna and vice president of the World Meteorological Organization.

"But the future will be hotter and drier. The Po River basin is set to experience a general reduction in terms of water availability, with all that this entails, especially for agriculture," he said.

Unless the region adopts strategies to adapt - including better managing water and demand for it - "the Po Valley has no future", Pecora warned.

Effectively dealing with the problem "takes the will to admit that we can no longer continue on as if nothing is changed", he said.

"Technology today offers unprecedented means to make water usage more efficient, but technology s not the answer to everything," he added. "What is needed the most is to find common solutions and start planning the long term, and not only the short one."

Like many bodies of water across the world, also the Po River is regulated by a network of rules enforced by a huge range of authorities, boards, and agencies, most of which act on their own, though they occasionally join forces.

"This isn't particularly helpful," Pecora said, "because the Po River is one single thing, where decisions taken upstream affect those who are downstream."

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In Italy's parched Po River valley, climate change threatens the...

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FIORENZUOLA D'ARDA, Italy (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Po River, Italy's largest reservoir of freshwater, is thirsty. A severe drought that has lasted months and shows no signs of easing has led to a fall in water reserves, raising fears about coming harvests and putting a huge strain on the river valley's crucial agricultural sector.

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Water is often obtained from the surface water the river provides. There are, of course, sources of water in different groundwater wells too but a majority of water comes from the Po River. Because of the draught, as mentioned in the two previous posts, water is becoming more and more scarce. Although the video may be more focused on Rome and surrounding farms, it is a good representation of what its is like for northern Italy too. In order to not waste your time only watch until around 1:41 to get a good idea of water scarcity in the country.

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Starved by drought, Rome’s water supply may not spring eternal

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The Po River basin plays a major role in all agricultural life for the entirety of the Italy. Producing 35 percent of national agricultural production and roughly 40% of the country’s GDP, revenue of agriculture is important (Rossi). However, due to the drought, prices of produce and such have began to rise and off setting that  can be very difficult. Because of this the country of Italy has lost around two billion euros or 2.3 billion U.S. dollars. Without improvement of the usage of water prices could grow so significant that the people of Italy may not be able to afford what they need.

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With the draught causing so much damage and the future it may have for the nation, the Po River Basin Management Plan was created with ten different focuses with number 5 being water scarcity and drought. Within that category solutions are found in a proactive and reactive way. With proactive, they state that it is aimed at the long-term equilibrium between water availability and water use (sustainability of uses). For the reactive part of solutions aimed at drought management, according to the “Drought
Management Plan Report” contents (Puma).

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There are many directions solutions can go but their are essentially two main paths. The first being the hard path and the second being the soft path. A hard path solution is one the people create with technology to help the system. This could be a simple as "steps" placed in streams to help turbidity or more complicated such as a dam. Softer path solutions are changing the behavior of the people by doing things such as taking shorter showers or watering a front lawn less. Both are valid paths but can also have draw backs.

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As mentioned in the Political Challenges post, different cities along the river struggle to come to a consensus with each having a different organization. One way to improve upon that could be to form one organization with representatives from each town using the river and meet monthly at the minimum. This could ensure that each city's voice is being heard while also making sure each participates. Furthermore, it will ensure better quality of water flowing down the river, rather than leaving the worst for last. This is seen as a soft path of a solution

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The next possible solution would be to build landings or steps of concrete in the water to have levels of sediment filtration. The sediment load carried by the Po is considerable, and the extension of the delta is estimated at 200 acres per year (Britannica). With these different level, as pictures below, a relative amount of sediment and be gathered while the following step continues to reduce it more. Once reaching the final step, the water will at least have smaller levels of sediment therefore better water quality. In addition to that, ports by the sea have moved further away due to sediment and this method can serve to reduce that issue also.

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A solution that they are currently using is the dispersal of water to farms through the use of dams. Because the agricultural industry is such a main part of the basin, the measured use of the river can help make it a more long running resource for the area. It will also help the overall water levels of the river due to the drought that has swept over Italy. Of course the main downside to this is the loss of produce and the rise of prices for those crops will slowly begin to rise.

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Introduction of Ready Player One Connections

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Introduction of Ready Player One Connections

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline follows the main character Wade  in the virtual reality world of OASIS while showing glimpses of a dystopian future. Through the books there are many themes that present themselves.  What I choose to focus on was the environmental change in the Po River and how it effects poverty, society and culture and the connections between this and Ready Player One.

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Poverty in the Po River Basin and in Ready Player One

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Poverty in the Po River Basin and in Ready Player One

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Within the book we are told of the stacks of trailer homes and the having to hold multiple jobs to sustain a family of just two. With the drought leaving less water available for the 90% of agriculture grown in by the Po River, prices will shoot up. With rising prices comes the difficulty of the people to buy what they may need to sustain their life. Just like in the book, many found it hard to obtain food outside major cities which could become a pattern in Italy also.

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Changes in Society in the Po River and Ready Player One

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Changes in Society in the Po River and Ready Player One

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The word society is defined as the aggregation of people living in a ordered community. The stacks are again a good example of this and the few cities that are scattered around, such as Columbus, Ohio. Wade left his home in the stacks and moved to Columbus in order to sustain his life of using the better internet connection found in the city. Many countries, including Italy, have a population of less than 10% that migrate due to the climate change and the economic standing it places citizens in (Rossi). This has become a common occurrence as water sources across the world face similar situations.

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Changes in Culture in the Po River and Ready Player One

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Changes in Culture in the Po River and Ready Player One

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the definition of culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Focusing on the behaviors and belief aspect of the word we can find both hard and soft path solutions within the novel and the river basin (McMacken). Wade finds himself wanting to build a spaceship and stock to fly and leave the crumbling Earth and not changing his behavior. His solution is easily seen as the hard path solution while Artemis wants to save the environment and provide food, this soft path calls for a change in belief and behaviors. Shifting the view to the Po, the Po River Basin Management Plan created levels of drought control seen as the soft path solution.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lFe7hKkNZhq6rzREQRsYWHwkzxEJp7wBqExHKWxshQ8/edit?usp=sharing