Climate change alert - snow blizzards hit Florence earlier and stronger than before

Climate change in Florence changed the landscape and skyline of the heart of Europe's Renaissance. In this photo, the city and its famous Duomo are covered in snow resulting from the December blizzard that hit Tuscany much earlier, and much stronger than usual. The photo is courtesy of Terence Ward and was sent to me as a postcard by him on the occasion of Christmas and New Year (2009/2010).

Terence Ward is an American activist and author who lives in Florence and is active on farmers' rights, Slow Food Campaign against the commercialisation of the food industry and climate change amongst other things. He is also the author of "Searching for Hassan: An American Family's Journey Home to Iran" a 2002 account of his family's 1998 "trip home; not to [their] ancestral Ireland, but to Iran" on a blind search for Hassan, a long-lost Iranian friend and mentor who took care of the family many years before.