Impact of Climate Change on the “Trabocchi Coast” (Italy): The Trabocco Turchino Case Study

Abstract

The increasing and extreme weather phenomena observed in the Mediterranean basin are only one aspect of the problem which has broader effects on population, structures and infrastructure.Each of these aspects is itself characterized by a wide variety of issues, which are increasingly leading studies toward a multidimensional assessment of impacts (economic, social and environmental). In this study, we focus on the impact related to the increase in extreme weather events in a specific area characterized by typical vernacular architecture: the “trabocchi” of the Italian Adriatic coast, whose identification as cultural heritage is the result of historical events and social dynamics closely linked to the collective imagination and for which inclusion as intangible cultural heritage in the UNESCO World heritage List has been requested. The weather event investigation was performed considering both long-term large-scale (using the ERA5 dataset) analysis and short-term small-scale (models and ground-based sensors) analysis. The results provide an overview of the event dynamics and enhanced understanding of the area’s vulnerability factors to extreme weather phenomena, as well as emphasized the need, in order to protect the integrity of the asset, to study environment changes and to plan concrete actions aimed at conservation, including social actions, to mitigate the problem.