A catastrophic drought has gripped Europe, with extreme heatwaves made at least 80 times more likely in Western Europe and 40 times more likely in Eastern Europe due to the climate crisis, a new scientific analysis has found.
The World Weather Attribution consortium's study indicates that record-breaking heat is causing rapid water evaporation from rivers, lakes, soils, and plants. This phenomenon, amplified by global heating, has redefined droughts in Europe, with high temperatures now emerging as the key factor this summer. In Western Europe, conditions leading to such extreme heat were considered only 'moderate' before the advent of the climate crisis; now they are classified as 'extreme'. The study highlights that traditionally low rainfall was the primary cause of drought, but human-caused global heating has reversed this dynamic.
European nations have been forced to implement emergency water restrictions, with most of southern England under a hosepipe ban. Spain and France have seen devastating wildfires, while farmers across the continent face severe crop losses. Approximately 9 million tonnes of grain are projected to be lost, including France's worst maize harvest in 50 years and Romanian farmers reporting over a million hectares of crops lost.
Low water levels in rivers across Europe are impacting clean hydropower generation and cargo ship navigation. The Rhine at Lobith in the Netherlands is now lower than its minimum level recorded during the hot summer of 1976. Researchers warn that this disruption could lead to higher food and energy prices, with low-income households likely to bear the economic burden.
Dr. Dominik Schumacher from ETH Zurich noted that human-caused climate change was behind the drying of European summers: "We now see an enhanced tendency for unusual soil drying already in spring, before summer has even begun. That is our own doing: as temperatures climb, the atmosphere’s thirst increases quickly, sucking moisture out of rivers, lakes, reservoirs and the soil." Dr. Mariam Zachariah from Imperial College London added a stark warning: "What’s most alarming is that these conditions are occurring at 1.4C of warming. If global emissions push temperatures up to 2.8C as predicted, these intense evaporative conditions could double in likelihood."