268
the local population due to the lack of drinking water. Secchi measured the elevation
of the town with an excellent aneroid barometer, which he carried with him, and he
believed that the problem could be solved by using a forced pipeline, suggesting its
path. The idea was submitted to the Pontiff, who, in 1863, agreed to finance the
project and commissioned the geologist Giuseppe Ponzi (1805–1885) and the engineer Osea Brauzzi to research sources of water and the path of the pipeline.
In the autumn of 1865, when these studies were quite advanced, Father Secchi
returned to Alatri to oversee the installation of a lightning rod on the cathedral.
During his stay he learned of the existence of the remains of an ancient aqueduct;
upon his return to Rome, he informed the Minister Costantini-Baldini. A new
archaeological survey was financed by the Pontiff, which Father Secchi conducted
with great enthusiasm and historical expertise (Secchi 1865a).
16.5 Environment, Climate Change, and Public Health
(1862–1866)
Following his studies of meteorology and geodesy, Angelo Secchi laid the scientific
foundation for practical means to safeguard the territory and the population from
extreme climatic events (Secchi 1877; Aebischer 2012; Calisi and Mangianti 2012:
200; Chinnici 2012: 45). His approach to the issue of climate change, which he
recognized and attributed to human actions such as deforestation and the introduction of artificial heat sources, is really remarkable (Secchi 1866; Calisi and Mangianti
2012: 209).
Aware of the importance of science literacy among the people to successfully
protect the territory and population, Secchi held two lectures at the Academy of
Arcadia, which he had joined in 1862, on the climate of Rome and on public sanitation, on May 24, 1863 and June 11, 1865, respectively.
9
At the beginning of the first
lecture, Secchi defined climate as the set of permanent or variable conditions of
temperature, humidity, winds, and rains that constitute the state of the atmosphere
in which we live and which affect the plant and animal life of the globe (Secchi
1866: 44). He then reported that the average temperature was undergoing a rise and
pointed to its causes in the modern transformation of agriculture and
industrialization:
I would not hesitate to believe in any change due to the different cultivation and deforestation of the mountains, and the introduction of artificial heat sources, which are certainly not
negligible. When we consider the enormous amount of steam that is now artificially
launched into the atmosphere, and the fuel that is extracted from the bowels of the earth
which, when it burns, emits the energy accumulated by the sun for centuries in those depos9 Roma, Archivio storico dell’Accademia dell’Arcadia: liste di presenze e verbali 1863–1870.
Thanks to Sarah Malfatti for reporting documents (Secchi 1865b, 1866).
M. Calzolari and S. Marsella
the local population due to the lack of drinking water. Secchi measured the elevation
of the town with an excellent aneroid barometer, which he carried with him, and he
believed that the problem could be solved by using a forced pipeline, suggesting its
path. The idea was submitted to the Pontiff, who, in 1863, agreed to finance the
project and commissioned the geologist Giuseppe Ponzi (1805–1885) and the engineer Osea Brauzzi to research sources of water and the path of the pipeline.
In the autumn of 1865, when these studies were quite advanced, Father Secchi
returned to Alatri to oversee the installation of a lightning rod on the cathedral.
During his stay he learned of the existence of the remains of an ancient aqueduct;
upon his return to Rome, he informed the Minister Costantini-Baldini. A new
archaeological survey was financed by the Pontiff, which Father Secchi conducted
with great enthusiasm and historical expertise (Secchi 1865a).
16.5 Environment, Climate Change, and Public Health
(1862–1866)
Following his studies of meteorology and geodesy, Angelo Secchi laid the scientific
foundation for practical means to safeguard the territory and the population from
extreme climatic events (Secchi 1877; Aebischer 2012; Calisi and Mangianti 2012:
200; Chinnici 2012: 45). His approach to the issue of climate change, which he
recognized and attributed to human actions such as deforestation and the introduction of artificial heat sources, is really remarkable (Secchi 1866; Calisi and Mangianti
2012: 209).
Aware of the importance of science literacy among the people to successfully
protect the territory and population, Secchi held two lectures at the Academy of
Arcadia, which he had joined in 1862, on the climate of Rome and on public sanitation, on May 24, 1863 and June 11, 1865, respectively.
9
At the beginning of the first
lecture, Secchi defined climate as the set of permanent or variable conditions of
temperature, humidity, winds, and rains that constitute the state of the atmosphere
in which we live and which affect the plant and animal life of the globe (Secchi
1866: 44). He then reported that the average temperature was undergoing a rise and
pointed to its causes in the modern transformation of agriculture and
industrialization:
I would not hesitate to believe in any change due to the different cultivation and deforestation of the mountains, and the introduction of artificial heat sources, which are certainly not
negligible. When we consider the enormous amount of steam that is now artificially
launched into the atmosphere, and the fuel that is extracted from the bowels of the earth
which, when it burns, emits the energy accumulated by the sun for centuries in those depos9 Roma, Archivio storico dell’Accademia dell’Arcadia: liste di presenze e verbali 1863–1870.
Thanks to Sarah Malfatti for reporting documents (Secchi 1865b, 1866).
M. Calzolari and S. Marsella