Last summer, dry weather slowed rivers in Germany, intensified forest fires in Spain, depleted Italian hydroelectric dams and damaged crops in France. This year, the outlook is no better. France is facing its driest period in 60 years, with no significant rain in the first months of this year and low levels of snowfall. In Italy, the longest river, the Po, has 61% less water than normal at this time of year, and Spain already began dealing with major fires last month. Scientists are concerned that these phenomena, triggered by the climate crisis, are starting earlier and more aggressively.
in the special report On the drought in Europe in March, the European Drought Observatory warned that weather conditions at the end of this winter were similar to last year, when extreme drought affected areas across the continent in the summer months.
“Some parts of Europe have not fully recovered from last year’s drought, and a return or continuation of such conditions could magnify the impacts and have a ripple effect,” Andrea Toreti, Principal Scientist at the European Drought Observatory, told Sky News. .
The European Commission also warned last month, through another reportby the possibility of a summer equal to or worse than that of 2022. Brussels also stressed that most southern and western European countries, including Portugal, should worry about water supply, agriculture and energy production, which They are greatly affected by droughts.
Water scarcity in Europe
In the Alps, the scarcity of snow and the amount of frozen water is even less than last year. This means a large decrease in the amount of water in nearby rivers when the snow melts. This year’s snowfall is the lowest since 2011 in Italy and since 1998 in Switzerland.
Therefore, Europe needs proper water use plans to cope with the various signs of drought across the continent. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron launched a radical plan to save water resources. Spain has also already approved an investment of 23,000 million euros in the management of its hybrid resources, to face the effects of climate change.
While Europe has already been plagued by summer droughts, experts fear that the past two extremely dry months could signal a new reality, caused in part by rising global average temperatures.
Source: TSF
