International Observation 丨 Drought sweeping the northern hemisphere!Many rivers discover "hungry stones", and the global economy is facing extreme "roasting" inspection

"If you see me, cry."

This is a warning text engraved with German in the Eitabitan section of Jiqin Town, Czech Republic. The earliest year marked on the stone was 1616, and it was also marked in 1707, 1746, and other years. This hungry stone was exposed to the water last time when Europe was suffering from extreme drought in 2018.

"Hungry Stone" found in Yibei River, Jieqin Town, North, Czech Republic

"Hunger Stone" appeared, and Europe suffered continuous drought

Hunger Stone is the mark where predecessors were placed in the riverbed when they encountered drought. These labels are used to remind future generations. If the water level decreases and the hunger is exposed, it means that the local area will suffer a famine due to drought.

Since the beginning of this year, both the longest river in Italy or the largest Rhine in Western Europe has encountered historic drought. With the continued decline in the water level, in recent weeks, "hunger stones" were found in many rivers such as the Yi Bei River, Rhine, and Danube.

Europe is encountering droughts in 500 years.

Since the summer of this year, there have been continuous high -temperature weather in Europe. Most areas are more dry than before, and the precipitation of some countries has fallen below the record. Climate experts pointed out that global warming is the reason for the intensified drought in Europe, especially the Mediterranean region. The overall trend in the future is that Europe will have more and more frequent drought.

The World Meteorological Organization recently issued a report saying that July this year became one of the hottest three July since the world's meteorological records. The long -lasting and strong heat waves have severely impacting many European countries. The latest data from the European drought observation station shows that 47%of the EU regions are in a "warning" state of drought, and 17%of regions are in the state of drought "alert".

The drought increases the risk of wildfire spread, impacted Europe's energy security

According to data released by the Spanish ecological transformation and population challenge department, the current water storage capacity of the nationwide of Spain has fallen to 37.9%, a record low since 1995. It is predicted that Spain's winter grain crops will be significantly reduced in winter, and the output of economic crops such as wine grapes and olives is expected to be reduced by 15%-20%. The water level of the Rhine in Germany dropped sharply, and the traffic was seriously insufficient, which has seriously affected normal shipping.

Dusse Dolin Rhine, Northern Vehicle, Germany

The longest river water level in Italy hit a record low. This summer, some river cruise tourism activities were forced to suspend, and local agricultural production was also severely damaged. The Dutch encountered rare extreme drought in history, and the water level in the river and lakes fell to a historical low, which seriously affected agriculture, shipping and natural ecology. Some of the River sections of the Luxal River in France were almost dried up, and some canals were forced to close.

The dried riverbed of the Luxal River in central France

The drought has increased the spread of wildfire and the risk of desertification, impacting the energy safety of Europe. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, from January to mid -August this year, the European Union has been burned by more than 740,000 hectares of forests, a new high since 2006. The area of ​​Spain's forest fire alone this year has exceeded the sum of 2018 to 2021. The drought at the same time exacerbated the risk of desertification. At present, 74%of Spain's land has the risk of desertification, and 15.82%of the land is in a high risk of desertification.

According to the statistics of Norwegian consulting companies Lustard Energy Corporation, due to the continued drought, the amount of hydropower in the first seven months of this year decreased by 20%compared with the same period last year, and nuclear energy power generation decreased by 12%.

The nearly dried Wooddi Di Reservoir near Manchester near the United Kingdom

Foreign media: The world economy is facing extreme drought tests

The US "Wall Street Journal" website reported on August 21 that from farm from California to Europe, the severe drought in the northern hemisphere further disrupted the supply chain, pushed the food and energy prices, and gave the highly affected global trading system. Increase more pressure.

The report quoted Torretti, a climate scientist at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, saying that Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy may have been in the worst drought in 500 years. The report also quoted a study from the University of California, Los Angeles, saying that the drought in western United States seemed to be the worst in 1200.

For major economies in the world, drought this summer has impacted industries such as power generation, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. This further exacerbates existing problems, such as the supply chain interruption caused by the new crown epidemic and the pressure of the Ukraine crisis to energy and food prices.

According to reports from the US Cable Television News Network website on August 18, extreme high temperature and drought are raging in the north hemisphere. When economic growth has slowed down, the problems faced by workers and enterprises have increased, and the pressure of price increase has been increased.

In a prediction updated by the US Department of Agriculture in August, the situation of food safety is still nervous under the context of extreme high temperature. Forecasts show that the drought in Spain, southern France, Italy, and Balkans and the irrigation restrictions on production areas will lead to one -sixth of the EU corn output from 2022 to 2023. Global corn production decreases nearly 40 million tons, including the United States will reduce production by nearly 20 million tons.

Cover Journalist Yan Lei intern Han Weiwei

Some information is based on Xinhua News Agency, Reference News, etc. According to Xinhua News Agency

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