In the last six months of 2023, only 150 millimetres of rain fell on Sicily, the Italian island that is twice the size of some countries. A few months later, the region’s government declared a state of emergency due to the drought. Experts warned it could be the third worst water crisis the island has ever seen. With swathes of the population, and the economy, reliant on agriculture, a lack of water is has widespread consequences. Climate change is leaving many parts of southern Europe in drought – is it solely to blame for Sicily’s water crisis? Or is the chronic lack of funding southern Ital…