Drought situation in many regions of Europe remains severe: Report

47% of the EU is still under warning conditions, and 17% in alert conditions

New Delhi: The drought situation in many regions of Europe remains “severe” and the entire region is facing its worst drought in at least 500 years, as per the report ‘Drought in Europe – August 2022′ by the Europen Drought Observatory.

As per the report cumulatively, 64% of Europe is under warning or alert, which is also contributing to spread widely the areas of fire danger across the EU.

“The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August,” said the report.

The latest update of the CDI, including the first ten days of August 2022, points to 47% of Europe is in warning conditions and 17% in alert conditions.

It means that precipitation has been less than usual and soil moisture is in deficit and vegetation and crops in the region has shown the negative effects of drought.

Commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “The combination of a severe drought and heatwaves has created unprecedented stress on water levels in the entire EU.

“We are currently noticing a wildfires season sensibly above the average and an important impact on crops production. Climate change is undoubtedly more noticeably every year; the European Commission and its scientists are working tirelessly to map and study this crisis with the best technology available, from the space and on the ground, and are leading the efforts to protect our environment and our citizens from emergencies” she added.

According to JRC experts, the current drought still appears to be the worst since at least 500 years.

Drought hazard has been increasing, especially in: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, Hungary, northern Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Regions already affected by drought in spring 2022 include northern Italy, south-eastern France, some areas in Hungary and Romania), are the ones with the most worsening conditions.

Raising concerns over the water and heat stresses, the report said, it worsens significantly previous negative outlook on yields for summer crops, as reported in the JRC MARS Bulletin of August 2022.

“Current yield forecasts for grain maize, soybeans, and sunflowers at the EU level are, respectively: 16%, 15%, and 12% below the 5-year average” it mentioned.

EDO said the severe precipitation deficit has affected almost all rivers across Europe, affecting the energy sector for both hydropower generation and cooling systems of other power plants, as well as river transport, adding that Warmer and drier than usual conditions are likely to occur in the western Euro-Mediterranean region in the coming months, until November 2022.

“In the last days, precipitation events have alleviated drought conditions in some regions of Europe. However, they brought new challenges as in some areas they occurred in the form of severe thunderstorms” it informed.

The report warned, that warmer and drier than usual conditions are likely to occur in the western Euro-Mediterranean region in the coming months till November 2022.

“In some areas of the Iberian Peninsula, warning drier than usual conditions are forecasted for the next three months,” it said.