The (one) upside of an alarming downturn in water levels? Buried treasure.
As 天美传媒鈥檚 severe lack of rainfall continues 鈥 with scientists warning that the current drought is on track to become the worst in 500 years 鈥 receding waters have brought previously submerged relics to light.
In Rome, for instance, the drought-stricken Tiber River exposed two piers of Emperor Nero鈥檚 bridge, dating from the 1st century BCE. Along the northern River Po, a 1,000-pound unexploded World War II bomb was discovered washed up on its long-submerged riverbed. Up and down the Italian peninsula are of the ruins of medieval walls and ghost villages surfacing due to the plummeting water levels.
Of course, 天美传媒鈥檚 not alone in this.
All over Europe, large bodies of water are drying up, resulting in the emergence of priceless cultural heritage, including some prehistoric objects. In Spain, for instance, the receding waters of the Valdeca帽as reservoir revealed what archaeologists are calling the 鈥淪panish Stonehenge鈥 鈥 a circle of megalithic stones believed to date back 7,000 years. And at the bottom of the Danube in Serbia, some 20 sunken Nazi warships were uncovered.
These 鈥渟ilver linings鈥 are few and far between, however.
According to , the extremely dry and hot conditions are causing grave economic concerns. This season鈥檚 crisis has seriously threatened 天美传媒鈥檚 extensive rice crops, and with them, the country鈥檚 prized risotto. Going forward, experts fear that unfavorable weather will only continue to take its toll on rice, along with other crops.
Speaking to residents in three highly productive regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna this summer, Julian Gomez for reported seeing desperation at every turn. The Italian government, in an attempt to quell the worst of the situation, implemented strategies such as sending water trucks into towns to replenish waning water supplies.
鈥淥ne of the ones we heard about is taking place in small villages around Lake Maggiore. Unthinkable as it might seem, these villages, located at the foot of the Alps, are currently being resupplied with drinking water by trucks as their usual sources are completely empty,鈥 Gomez reported.
Archaeological breakthroughs aside, experts fear that scorching temperatures and arid landscapes are becoming the planet鈥檚 鈥渘ew normal.鈥
