Italy

After its quick industrial growth, Italy took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 84th in the world for ecological sustainability.[41] and theItalian national parks cover about five percent of the country[42] In the last decade, Italy also became one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world’s fifth largestsolar energy producer in 2009[43][44] and the sixth largest producer of wind power in 2008.[45]
However, air pollution is still a severe problem, especially in the industrialised north, reaching thetenth worldwide highest level of industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the 1990s.[46] Italy is the twelfth largest carbon dioxide producer.
The climate of Italy is highly diverse and can be farfrom the stereotypical Mediterranean climate, depending on location. Most of the inland northern regions of Italy, for example Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, have a humid subtropical (Köppenclimate classification Cfa). The coastal areas of Liguria and most of the peninsula south of Florence generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions onpeninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastalregions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.
Italy has a capitalist economy with high gross domestic product(GDP) per capita anddeveloped infrastructure. According to the International Monetary Fund, in 2008 Italy was the seventh-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe. Italy is member of the Group ofEight (G8) industrialized nations, the European Union

Italy has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Italians emigrated to other countries during the Italian diaspora....