Lampedusa is at the center of Europe for the study and monitoring of the environment and the ongoing climate crisis: thanks to the Pro-Icos_Med project, coordinated by the National Research Council and in which Enea and Crea also participate, it has been strengthened above all in Southern Italy the European network of Icos observatories, distributed in 16 countries and involving more than 500 researchers. The Italian network currently consists of 19 stations, which collect measurements and data necessary to understand how much human activities are influencing the climate, and its expansion was financed by the Ministry of University and Research.
The Pro-Icos_Med project adds an important element in the development of increasingly effective monitoring strategies for the study of the climate and the changes taking place”, says the President of the Cnr Maria Chiara Carrozza, speaking at the event organized in Lampedusa by the Institute for Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Cnr, scheduled until 8 June. “Not only because it has made it possible to strengthen national infrastructures – adds Carrozza – but also and above all for future connections with the European research infrastructure and with the Italian components of other environmental infrastructures”.
In particular, the Lampedusa climate observatory managed by ENEA has become the only one in the European Icos network to carry out measurements involving all three components of the carbon cycle: sea, land and atmosphere. Also on the island, a 100-metre tower is under construction for the study of carbon fluxes, by the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis of the Cnr. Furthermore, the Capodimonte station, managed by Iret-Cnr, and that of Castelporziano, managed by Crea and the Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forestry Systems of the Cnr, are among the best equipped urban sites at an international level. Finally, national support centers, a centralized database and a laboratory for analysis have been developed.
“ICOS network observatories such as the one in Lampedusa are fundamental both for understanding how anthropic activities are negatively influencing the climate, and for calibrating policies to contain the effects of climate change”, comments the President Enea Gilberto Dialuce. “The atmospheric measurements that we have been carrying out for over thirty years have made it possible to establish that the last decade was characterized by an even higher annual growth rate of CO2 than in the previous two decades. Furthermore – says Dialuce – we have found that methane is growing increasingly rapidly and this is worrying, because its heating potential is higher than that of CO2”. Greenhouse gas measurements on Lampedusa began in 1992. Since then, the atmospheric carbon dioxide content has increased by more than 60 parts per million, with annual growth reaching 2.7 parts per million each year. The most recent data collected within the Pro-Icos_Med project (started in 2019) show that the central part of the Mediterranean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere in the cold months, while releasing it in the warmer periods. Fortunately, for now the amount of CO2 absorbed by the ocean in the winter is double that released in the summer.
Source: Ansa
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