It will take up to 15 years to replant forests that have been reduced to ash by wildfires, causing harm to the environment, economy, jobs, and tourism. This is what Coldiretti estimates regarding the effects of the fires that broke out in Italy and destroyed hundreds of hectares of trees and Mediterranean scrub, from Sicily to Calabria to Puglia, as a result of the record-breaking heat. High temperatures and a lack of precipitation have dried out the land, allowing fires to start in the countryside and in often-abandoned woods. It is estimated that each fire will cost the Italians over ten thousand euros per hectare, which includes immediate costs for extinguishing and reforestation as well as long-term costs for reestablishing the ecological and economic systems of the affected areas. If the blaze of the flames is certainly favored by the anomalous climate of high temperatures and drought, there is cause for concern in the inattention and action of arsonists, with 60% of fires thought to be caused voluntarily.
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