Scientists Warn of Recurrence of Severe Droughts in Europe

Scientists have warned that the European continent will face many severe droughts in the future, and their duration will be long, according to "Russia Today", a Russian news website.

“Frontiers in Water” magazine indicates that scientists from Canada and Germany conducted this study; experts from the University of Munich and Ouranos pided the European continent into eight regions with different climates - the British Isles, Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Alps, Eastern Europe, France, the sea The Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula. They studied the probability of precipitation in the near future - the years 2080-2099.

The researchers also compared the rate of rainfall during the years 2001-2020, while maintaining the current rate of emission of hydrocarbons.

The researchers point out that the frequency of changes is related to the region, where summers are hotter, rainfall and snowfall decrease in winter, while rainfall in summer becomes rare.

According to the scientists, these differences are indicative of climate change between the modern and pre-industrial periods, and directly indicate the dryness of large areas of Europe in summer and wet conditions in the winter.

Drought waves will be repeated in the Alps, France, the Mediterranean, and the Iberian Peninsula with a rate of more than 50 percent. In the Alps and the Iberian peninsula by 40 and 20 percent, respectively.

It is reported that last August, it was announced that some islands in the Pacific Ocean would become uninhabitable due to global warming, including Kiribati, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.

However, Economic damages from droughts in the EU and UK could rise by one third by the end of the century, new research finds – even if warming is limited to 1.5C and countries implement adaptation measures.

The study, published in Nature Climate Change, indicates that droughts currently drive around €9bn in annual economic losses across the EU and UK – mainly from damage to the agricultural sector.

The authors warn that, as the climate warms, more frequent and intense droughts are expected across most of Europe – particularly in Mediterranean countries.