EXTREME EVENTS
Climate Change, the impact on meteorological events in Milan
The Climate change represents one of the most urgent challenges of our time, with clear and expanding impacts on a global scale.
A Milano Climate Change manifests itself with the intensification of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, intense rain and violent thunderstorms.
These phenomena can have direct impacts on the safety of people, infrastructure and the environment.
An example is represented by storm of July 25, 2023, during which gusts of wind at a speed of over 100 km/h and 40 mm of water - as much as falls in a month - caused very serious consequences for the city: trees uprooted in all neighbourhoods, roads and schools unusable, roofs uncovered , cars crushed by logs. A unique and unpredictable event in the history of Milan.
HOW THE RISK OF EXTREME EVENTS IS ASSESSED
In such a complex scenario, climate risk assessment represents a necessary starting point for sustainable land planning and management.
Risk represents the probability that an adverse event will occur damage and adverse effects to people, infrastructure and resources.
These effects can be caused by phenomena of various nature: anthropogenic, such as nuclear or chemical disasters, or natural, such as heavy rains or earthquakes.
To know the risk level of an urban area, three factors are generally taken into account
- La danger, i.e. the probability that a potentially dangerous phenomenon - (for example, a flood or an extreme heat wave - may occur with a certain intensity, in a certain geographical area and in a certain period of time;
- La exposure, i.e. the people or elements (buildings and infrastructures) located in the area where the danger may occur;
- La vulnerability, understood as the propensity of the exposed element - people, buildings and infrastructures - to suffer damage.
What we call "natural risks" are therefore determined only in small part by a component of natural origin (danger) and are amplified by the choices made by man, which define exposure and vulnerability.
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THE RISK FACTOR IN MILAN AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT
The rate of urbanization, the high population density, the low permeability and the scarcity of green areas are characteristics that make Milan highly exposed to climate risks.
Also with the aim of developing risk-informed decision-making processes, the City of Milan established in 2017 an internal management responsible for integrating risk anticipation into the plans and strategies for development and management of the territory adopted by the Administration.
The Management, through participation in international research and development projects, introduces the use of advanced technologies which allow for a better risk assessment and encourage the definition of measures for risk reduction and territorial adaptation.
Such measures include, for example, the revision of building regulations , design of green spaces useful for cooling the city.
A further fundamental aspect for anticipating and reducing climate risk is the active community involvement local.
In fact, the administration has the duty to inform citizens about the risks and spread awareness about the behaviors to adopt to deal with them.
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Only in this way is it possible to have resilient citizens with a proactive capacity that allows them to react to a negative event through the tools of knowledgeand awarenessand solidarity Human.
Climate risk assessment, therefore, is a crucial step towards building one safe and sustainable city. Collaboration between public administration, community and scientific experts is essential to ensure that Milan can continue to prosper, guaranteeing the well-being of future generations.
Source: Municipality of Milan, Urban Resilience Project Management
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