European drought is its worst in 500 years, as per European Drought Observatory. Almost 47 percent of Europe is in a clear deficit of soil moisture.
photo source: Reuters
With almost two-third of the continent under warning & critical alert, Europe is on the edge of its worst drought in 500 years.
The places in alert have been slammed with reduced inland shipping, electricity production & even yield of some crops, as told by the European Union agency.
The August report of the European Drought Observatory (EDO) tells that around 47 percent of the continent is under warning conditions , the reason being the dry out of soil in the region.
Summer & summer crops
“The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August,” the report said.
Adding to it the report said that the western Europe-Mediterranean region was likely to experience a warmer & drier atmosphere then the normal until November.
Summers have never been so warm in Europe since 1540, when a year-long drought took away thousands of lifes.
Almost the whole of Europe has faced baking high temperatures this summer, worsening the conditions. The temperature led to wildfires, set off health warnings, & prompted calls for an immediate action to tackle climate change.
The drought seems to be the worst in at least 500 years. Assuming final data by the end of the season confirms the pre-assessments, the commission said in the report.
Almost 17 percent of the area is on a state of alert as vegetation is affected, due to low water level.
2022 yields of grains have been counted 16 percent below the average of the five years, while other summer grains are no better.
Soybeans & sunflower yields are set to fall by 15 & 12 percent.
Photo source:Reuters
Waterways
Water transport has been hit so badly that even the greatest rivers of Europe can’t help transporting.
Rivers like Shrine have been reduced to shallow water streams. Po, Loire, Danube, which are the main waterways for Europe are unable to support even mid-sized boats.
Remains of sunken ships, hundreds years old rocks have come out of erstwhile depth. And this all is due to the extraordinary water level decline.
This sudden decline of water transport has led to high inflation in the market.
As most of the European countries highly rely on their waterways for cargo & especially coal. Due to low water levels in rivers, ships are not able to move hence putting a halt on waterways.
Which is indirectly hitting the costs of food & other essential items.
The food has become expensive in many countries, and in some areas even drinking water is being rationed.
Power & Electricity
Hydropower generation has been hit badly, & other power producers affected due to water shortages. Those were used to feed cooling systems. Eventually leading to shortage of electricity.
Energy prices have risen concerningly, adding to the catastrophe in the energy market brought in by the war in Ukraine.
European Commission’s outlook
A senior scientist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre told the media that this year could turn out way worse than 2018 for Europe. He said that the end of year has not yet come & data is still being analysed.
“We haven’t fully analysed the event because it is still ongoing, but based on my experience I think that this is perhaps even more extreme than 2018,” the scientist said.
He also added that though we know the 2018 drought was bad enough to be compared with the one 500 years back. But this time it could hit worse than that.
More about the European Drought- https://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/european-rivers-run-dry-climate-crisis-creeping-closer/
