Europe has had no worse dry season in the past 500 years than it has this year. This is the conclusion of the European Commission agency that monitors drought. Two-thirds of the continent is in a situation where alarm bells are sounding or warnings of the consequences of drought.
The researchers still received a small blow to the arm. For example, conclusions were drawn on the basis of provisional data. No new data on the end of the dry season has yet been explored.
Parts of Europe have not seen a significant amount of rain in nearly two months. This hinders, for example, the harvesting of some crops. The researchers wrote that the corn yield from the grain alone was 16 percent lower than the average yield over the past five years. In addition, far fewer were collected from soybeans and sunflowers, for example.
Inland shipping is also affected by drought, because the lack of precipitation leads to a lowering of the water level in the rivers. As a result, fewer ships can travel (quickly) to their destination. Drought also has consequences for hydropower (electricity generated by water).
“The drought that has affected parts of Europe since the beginning of this year continues,” the news agency quoted him as saying. Reuters researchers. The European Commission agency does not rule out that in countries such as France and Spain, weather conditions will be warmer and drier than usual until November.
