The Italian countryside is on high alert during a scorching autumn distinguished by an average of four extreme occurrences per day, including cloudbursts, floods, and whirlwinds that damage crops fooled by high temperatures. This is what Coldiretti, Italy's largest agricultural association, announced yesterday, using ESWD (European Severe Weather Database) statistics in regard to the civil protection weather alert in numerous Italian regions, which triggered landslides and flooding. At risk are crops that have prolonged the season due to the heat in a 2023 that ranks so far, in Italy, among the hottest years since 1800, with a temperature 0.82 degrees higher than the historical average since records began in 1800, according to Coldiretti elaborations on Isac Cnr data in the first nine months. With a climatic anomaly of up to +1.02 degrees in the north. "In the fields," Coldiretti explained, "there are eggplants to peppers, zucchini to cucumbers, while the corn and rice harvests are still underway and the olive harvest has just begun, with the center north having already lost 1/3 of production. There is concern in the orchards for citrus crops ranging from oranges to mandarins, apples and pears in full harvest, and the production of persimmons and kiwis, where a hailstorm can damage an entire year's work."