A Summer of Drought and Extreme Weather
Wherever you’re listening to this right now, you’re probably feeling the changes this summer in a big way. It’s not only us here in the Mediterranean region of Europe who are experiencing record heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. I’ve been watching news reports from all over the world. The other day, my Mom in Spokane, Washington, even told me that fires had nearly reached their home.
I have no desire to go into the doom and gloom of climate reality. But we also can’t ignore two very important things. First, we need to take massive action to restore the damaged ecosystems of the world. Second, governments and industries just aren’t going to act fast enough. It falls to all of us to inform ourselves and get to work.
This episode today aims to help you do just that.
Meet Lorenzo Costa
Today I spoke with Lorenzo Costa, who has been on the show a couple of times already. Now that I’m in Italy and have been observing the effects of this severe summer weather, I knew I had to get in touch with him again. I wanted his perspective as someone who travels the country working with growers of all types. His work focuses on restoring the hydrological function and cycling of their land to build resilience in their operations.
It’s worth going back to his previous episodes. In them, he talks about his own vegetable operation in the Chianti region of Tuscany, as well as the water projects he was doing a few years ago. In this episode, we get an update on the patterns and learnings from all the new projects he has seen and worked on recently.
What’s Next on the Show
We’ve already covered a lot about the concepts and theory behind water cycles. That includes how they interact with landscape management and how it affects them. My colleague Nick Steiner and I have also talked about how we assess and read a landscape ahead of a project. Now we’re going to focus increasingly on practical restoration options. We’ll also share case studies from innovative farmers and restoration workers from around Europe.
So let’s jump right into this exploration of the current challenges and potential in Italy with Lorenzo.
