Italy's drought reaches farming heartland as seawater invades longest river

Italy's longest river is running dry as a severe heatwave grips the continent, allowing seawater to penetrate inland and threatening the agricultural heartland that produces milk for Parmesan cheese, according to The Local Italy. The phenomenon, reported on Saturday as temperatures soared across Europe, marks an acute phase of a broader water crisis that has already strained irrigation and power generation across the country.

The Po Valley crisis underscores a pattern now visible from north to south. While the northern agricultural belt faces immediate seawater intrusion, Basilicata and the wider southern regions confront a different but related threat: sustained heat stress on water-dependent crops and livestock. The heatwave, which the Guardian reported has set records across Germany and Italy, compounds existing pressures on agriculture in the south, where irrigation infrastructure is often less robust than in the north and water scarcity is a structural constraint rather than a seasonal anomaly.