Luca Mercalli, president of the Società Meteorologica Italiana, said that Italy and Europe have underestimated climate phenomena and risk repeating the mistake.
This warning comes as intense heat affects Italy and the broader European region. The failure to acknowledge the severity of these events could hinder the urgent transition needed to prevent catastrophic environmental shifts.
Mercalli said the tendency to ignore the crisis is cyclical. He said that people often forget the severity of extreme weather once the temperature drops. "Appena farà un po' più fresco ci dimenticheremo tutto," Mercalli said, meaning that as soon as it gets a bit cooler, everything will be forgotten [2].
The climatologist said that the current trajectory of greenhouse-gas emissions is dangerous. He called for immediate action to limit the effects of climate change and to keep global warming within a limit of 2 °C [1].
Mercalli said there is a risk of continued complacency in the face of worsening heatwaves. "Abbiamo sottovalutato questi fenomeni, e rischiamo di farlo ancora," Mercalli said, stating that these phenomena have been underestimated and there is a risk of doing so again [1].
His remarks underscore a growing concern among scientists that public perception of climate risk does not align with the physical reality of rising temperatures. By failing to treat heatwaves as systemic warnings, governments may delay the policy changes necessary to meet international temperature targets.
“"Abbiamo sottovalutato questi fenomeni, e rischiamo di farlo ancora."”
The warning from the president of the Società Meteorologica Italiana highlights a psychological gap between the experience of extreme weather and the implementation of long-term policy. If European nations treat heatwaves as isolated incidents rather than symptoms of a breach in the 2 °C threshold, the window for effective mitigation narrows, increasing the likelihood of irreversible ecological damage.
