The emergency of the new year
This is truly a disaster in Europe, and its consequences could surpass the damage caused by the pandemic. Some scientists say it is the most serious drought in nearly a thousand years in almost all European countries. Losses have amounted to hundreds of billions of Euros and the calculation of damages has just begun.
Rivers, lakes and reservoirs with dry water are affected by the heat. Due to significantly lower water levels on rivers, waterway traffic has decreased sharply. In many rivers and reservoirs, there are only dry, cracked alluvium and rocks left. The source of the Thames River in England has shifted 8km downstream.
The Rhine River, the central route of European waterways, is predicted by experts to be unable to travel by boat in the next few days. The same fate is at risk for another important EU traffic artery, the Danube River.
In France, record-breaking heat has damaged sunflower and fruit trees, endangering wineries. Farmers do not have water to irrigate the fields burned by the heat. Authorities in many European countries have imposed strict restrictions on water consumption: No watering of the garden with a tap, no car wash, swimming pools are neglected...
Energy thirst
The drought has further exacerbated the problem of EU energy supply. French nuclear power plants cannot operate at full capacity due to the water used to cool reactors taken from rivers being too hot.
Norway has stopped electricity exports due to reduced hydropower output, while it is one of the main electricity suppliers to several European countries. If the Rhine River becomes completely dry, the supply of coal on this river will have to stop, which is currently an extremely important fuel source for German thermal power plants.
The consequences also threaten Europe's food sector - due to climate disasters, all plans for the crop have collapsed, and food prices have skyrocketed. The drought that occurred in Europe two years ago has caused severe damage to the agriculture of EU countries. But the current drought is much stronger, which means the consequences will be even more serious.
Future prospects
All of this exacerbates negative expectations for the near future of the EU economy. The European Commission is eager to find ways to mitigate the impact of severe droughts, which have been overwhelmed by the energy crisis and other unfavorable consequences of imposing sanctions on Russia.
In February, leaders of the Institute of Water-Related Issues of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the doctor of economics, and the Institute of Journalism of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Ivanovich Danilov-Danilyan gave an interview to Komxomolxkaiapravda about the super drought in the US, according to American scientists, occurring for the first time in 1,200 years. Here is what he has answered questions about the current super drought in Europe:
- What consequences could the drought in Europe have and is it true that for the current European climate, this is a new standard?
Sooner or later, it will definitely become the standard. But exactly when - in 2030, in 2050, or even maybe in 2080 - no one can predict. But it is certain that the observed warming a 1.5% increase in global temperatures in general is completely inevitable by the end of the century.
With such a temperature increase, what is happening in Europe now will happen, it may not be every year, but it is certainly every year, or at least every three years. Of course, Europe must prepare for the fact that such droughts will occur frequently.
