Droughts
Warmer temperatures from burning coal, oil, and natural gas increase evaporation which dries out soils and vegetation, leading to crop failures and drinking water shortages. Climate change is also altering the timing of water availability.
Read a roundup of the headlines below:
“Throughout the West, anxiety about drought is as palpable as the dryness of the air; talk of water fills newspapers and conversations alike. “Aridification kills civilizations. Is California next?” read one Los Angeles Times headline in June. In February, scientists confirmed that the current, decades-long “megadrought” is the worst in 1,200 years. They also confirmed that rising temperatures — driven by human consumption of fossil fuels — were partly to blame.”
Grist, How climate change spurs megadroughts
”The scenes are rare enough in mid-summer; in early March, they are unprecedented. Lac de Montbel in south-west France is more than 80% empty, the boats of the local sailing club stranded on its desiccated brown banks.
In northern Italy, tourists can walk to the small island of San Biagio, normally reached only by boat, from the shore of Lake Garda, where the water level is 70cm (27in) lower than average. The Alps have had 63% less snow than usual.
In Germany, shallow waters on the Rhine are already disrupting barge traffic, forcing boats heading up into central Europe to load at half capacity, and in Catalonia, now short of water for three years, Barcelona has stopped watering its parks.
After its driest summer in 500 years, much of Europe is in the grip of a winter drought driven by climate breakdown that is prompting growing concern among governments over the water security for homes, farmers and factories across the continent.
Driest February in England since 1993 signals drought ahead, say experts
A study published in January by Graz University of Technology in Austria, whose scientists used satellite data to analyse groundwater reserves, concluded that Europe has been in drought since 2018 and its water situation was now “very precarious”.”
The Guardian, ‘Very precarious’: Europe faces growing water crisis as winter drought worsens
“China’s record-breaking heatwaves and droughts have highlighted the sizable challenges the world’s second-largest economy faces to meet its energy needs in the years ahead amid a changing climate.
Hotter and drier weather is set to push China’s already enormous energy consumption higher in the coming years. That means policymakers will not only need to skillfully manage a transition away from fossil fuels towards green energy — but also tackle deficiencies in its network of renewables such as hydro and wind.
The limitations of China’s existing renewables grid were exposed last month when droughts disrupted hydropower plants along the Yangtze River, leaving millions of citizens and businesses in the country’s southwest without power.”
Al Jazeera, China droughts highlight energy challenge as climate heats up
“The toll from extreme weather has devastated vast regions of sub-Saharan Africa which are suffering from the worst drought conditions on record and a food crisis that ranges from severe to catastrophic. Correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro looks at one effort to help farmers impacted by the changing weather patterns.”
PBS, Historic drought followed by flooding threatens crops and farms in East Africa
“The eastern Mediterranean and Middle East are warming almost twice as fast as the global average, with temperatures projected to rise up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century if no action is taken to reverse the trend, a new report says.
The region will experience “unprecedented” heat waves, more severe and longer-lasting droughts and dust storms and rainfall shortages that will “compromise water and food security” for the region’s 400 million people, according to a summary of the report released Tuesday.
The eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East are more susceptible to warming trends because of their unique natural characteristics, like large desert expanses and lower water levels, the study said.”
AP, East Med especially at risk as world heats up, report warns
“In this video, Don Cheadle takes an aerial tour of one of California’s drought-stricken landscapes—a disappearing reservoir called Folsom Lake. Flying with him is Felicia Marcus, the state’s top water official, who explains that four years of drought and no snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains have severely depleted the reservoir, one of the state’s main water supplies.
“This is absolutely what our future looks like under climate change,” Marcus states.”
National Geographic, Climate Change and California’s Drought
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