Europe has been hit by an exceptional drought this summer. The heavy rains of the past few days do not bring them relief, because the water does not have time to soak into the dry soil and is washed away.
In Italy, as much as 30 percent of the country’s agricultural production is threatened. The surface of Lake Garda, popular with tourists, has dropped so low that its bottom can be seen.
The level of the Rhine river, which flows through Germany, Switzerland and Holland, is also exceptionally low. River ship traffic can no longer run normally. It harms the region’s industry, which is dependent on shipping raw materials.
In Switzerland, an entire lake has disappeared. The level of the Lac des Brenets lake, located near the border between Switzerland and France, fell so low already in July that shipping had to be stopped there.
Now in some places the lake, which is up to 26 meters deep, and part of the Doubs river flowing to the French side have withered away from view.
It has been so dry in France that the use of water has had to be regulated in several places throughout the summer. For example, the production of traditional cheeses has been stopped in some places because there is not enough fresh grass.
Hurricanes are testing Europe
The long-awaited rains arrived this week, but instead of relief, they brought destruction.
Due to the dryness, the soil is not able to absorb rainwater normally, which worsens water flooding. Floods have been seen in recent days, for example, in France and England.
However, strong storm winds in Italy, France and Austria caused a worse effect. As a result, at least 12 people have died, says (you switch to another service) British public broadcasting company BBC. At least three of them are children.
Gusts of wind have knocked down trees on buildings and people.
On the French island of Corsica, the wind blew at its strongest at over 60 meters per second. It is almost twice as strong a wind speed as the lower limit of wind speed defined for a hurricane.
In Corsica, at least two people died and dozens were injured. French Minister of the Interior by Gérald Darman said that a state of emergency might be declared in France.
– We have never seen a storm like this, it felt like a tropical storm, local restaurant owner Cedric Boell told news agency Reuters.
The speakers were also wild in Italy. Local manager for the Tuscany region Eugenio Giani shared a video on the messaging service Twitter, showing a ferris wheel spinning wildly with the wind.
Giani said in a tweet that the yellow storm warning was continued in the Tuscany region.
In Tuscany, at least two people are said to have died as a result of the storm.
The drought continues
Heavy rains do not bring much relief to the drought.
– We have been expecting rain, but not with this intensity, hydrologist Eric Sauquet The French Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment says to Reuters.
According to Sauquet, the rain is so strong that it is quickly washed away through waterways. That’s why the water reserves increase only momentarily, and return to the same dry readings as before the heavy rains.
– This is only a small window of relief, and a very cruel one that has caused flooding. They cannot be ignored, especially in large cities such as Paris and Montpellier, where the floods have caused some destruction and disorder.
As a result of climate change, droughts, extreme heavy rains and hurricanes are becoming more common in many areas.
Global warming causes longer and hotter heat periods and more severe drought in Europe.
Due to the high temperature, more water evaporates. It causes stronger and more sudden heavy rains, which also increases the risk of flooding.
A foretaste of this has been obtained, for example, in Valencia, Spain, where record-breaking heavy rains and the severe floods caused by them were witnessed in May.
Now in Valencia they are putting out forest fires caused by heat and drought, which are the worst in Spain all summer.