Venice is feeling the pressure right now as its water pressure plummets with droughts throughout the city’s famous canals. Normally the city is struck with issues of flooding and water overflow, but recently the issues have been quite the opposite. According to scientists, the Alps mountain range, north of Italy and which provides drinking water to lowland Europe, has received less than half its average snowfall this year. This is just one of the explanations as to why the canals are running dry. Others blame the lack of rain, a high-pressure water system, the full moon, and sea currents. 

  With water levels dangerously low, transportation has been limited and regular services have come to a halt. Water taxis and gondolas don’t have enough pathways to transport passengers to their destinations. And even more alarming, the ambulances cannot navigate the narrow pathways to reach people in crisis. The way to deal with this emergency is with precipitation, and recent weather has not been very forgiving. The weather has been unusual in western Europe for over two weeks, bringing mild temperatures more normally seen in late spring. Luckily, up-to-date weather forecasts predict the arrival of vital precipitation and snow in the Alps in the coming days.