Europe is drying up

Government and climate bodies in the European Union are warning of a "critical situation", following the extreme heat waves that are hitting Europe.

River levels are dropping sharply, in a blow across the continent and the future looks bleak

Ziv Reinstein

11/08/2022

Thursday, August 11, 2022, 10:50 a.m. Updated: 11:04 a.m.

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While the heat waves continue to hit the European continent, a new study published by the "European Drought Observatory" (European Drought Observatory) reveals that the current drought conditions affect about 60 percent of the territory of the European Union and Great Britain.

These were exacerbated by record temperatures resulting from climate change occurring this summer on the continent.

Just last July, record temperatures of 48 degrees were measured in Spain and Portugal, and in Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland suffered from severe heat waves with temperatures close to 40 degrees measured in London.

Also in the region of the Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - temperatures of about 35 degrees were measured.

According to the AXIOS website, these data are of great importance, since countries such as France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands are facing water shortages and riverbeds are shrinking throughout Europe.

The extreme dry conditions have a severe impact on industries such as energy production, agriculture and river transport.

The current drought conditions affect about 60% of the surface of the European Union and the United Kingdom (photo: screenshot, axios)

Drought in a reservoir near Malaga in Spain, August 8, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

Boats stuck in the Dou River in Switzerland, the main tributary of the Seine River.

August 8, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

Eels die due to drought in a lake in western France, August 8, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

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"Increased fire risk"

According to a statement published by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which operates under the European Union, "there is an increased risk of fires due to the lack of rainfall and the resulting dry vegetation, combined with high temperatures."

Indeed, fires continue to rage in Europe.

Against this background, it seems that many countries in Europe are expected to experience continued dry conditions during the months of August and September, which even adds to what has been defined as the "critical situation".

"This will increase the severity of the drought and the effects on agriculture, energy and water supply," the observatory says.

The organization's researchers examined climatic data over a period of ten days towards the end of July.

They found that 45 percent of the EU's territory is under "drought warning" conditions by the middle of the month, while 15 percent of the EU's territory is on "red alert", with severe water shortages.

Huge fires in Germany following last month's heat wave, July 19, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

Huge fires also in England (Photo: Reuters)

and in Spain (Photo: Reuters)

The ships get stuck in the rivers

In the UK, the Met Office (Met) figures show that the east, south-east and south of England experienced their driest July on record after being hit by a historic heatwave.

The British Center for Ecology and Hydrology has warned that drought conditions are expected to remain in these areas until October.

Italy also suffered from tremendous heat and the worst drought in 70 years, until an airplane bomb from World War II was discovered, which the Italian army had to carefully evacuate.

"Drought has become the reality of our summer," Virginios Sinkevičius, the European Commission's Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, tweeted last Tuesday.

"100 municipalities in France do not have running water, the levels of the Rhine in Germany and France are so low that the traffic of goods in them is in danger, and the Netherlands is facing an official water shortage, Cinquevicius noted. "Restoring nature is the best solution to change this," he added. .

Boats stuck in the Waal River in the Netherlands due to the drought, August 7, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

People walk on the bank of the dry Rhine River in Germany in front of a tourist boat, August 9, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

The worst drought in 70 years.

A World War II bomb removed from the Po River in Italy, August 7, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

Bicycles that surfaced in the Rhine River in the Netherlands due to drought, August 7, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

A sheep lies in a water reservoir that has dried up in the town of Viarte de los Montes in Spain, August 6, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

From green to gray: the park of the Eiffel Tower

In this context, it was also reported that another scorching heat wave is expected to hit northern, western and central Europe soon.

The British Meteorological Service has issued a severe heat warning for most of southern England and parts of Wales, following the expected extreme heat wave.

In Germany, due to a sharp drop in the level of the Rhine River, the Waterways and Shipping Authority in the city of Cologne announced that "extraordinarily low levels of the level forced vessels to reduce their cargo loads, so that they could continue moving in the river."

Another sad example of the heat wave was encountered by visitors to the Champ de Mars park in Paris, which leads to the Eiffel Tower.

The green park now showcases expanses of dry, gray land.

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• Europe

• drought

• global warming