Published February 26,2023
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Drought worries are rising in Europe as snowpack measurements throughout the Alps present solely a fraction of the traditional accumulation this time of 12 months and rainfall in locations like Italy and France has been severely scarce this month, too.
In France, Switzerland, Italy and components of Austria, there may be a lot much less snow than on common, mentioned meteorologist Klaus Haslinger of GeoSphere Austria, the state climate service.
In Italy, the non-profit environmental group Legambiente is warning that 53% much less snow than the long-term common has fallen within the Italian Alps in latest months.
The drawback will not be solely the dearth of snow, but additionally the absence of rain.
In the basin of the Po River, which snakes throughout northern Italy, precipitation has dropped 61% in comparison with the historic common, knowledge exhibits.
In France, after a number of consecutive rain-free weeks, there are fears of a second consecutive summer time of drought and water restrictions.
High-pressure programs over Western Europe are pushing away rain fronts, resulting in the scant precipitation.
But this isn’t the primary time that such climate situations have brought on years with extraordinarily low rainfall, Haslinger famous.
Sixty years in the past, he mentioned, there was a spell of dry climate that lasted a number of years attributable to sure temperature distributions over land and sea. “At that time, the level of the Danube fell to a record low,” the meteorologist mentioned.
Haslinger mentioned there may be proof that international warming is favouring these temperature patterns, making parched situations extra widespread within the years forward.
“If the spring weather is similar to 2022, the drought will become much worse,” warned Josef Eitzinger, an agricultural meteorologist on the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna.
It is turning into obvious that the rivers will carry a lot much less mountain meltwater this 12 months, which can be key to replenishing groundwater, he mentioned.
In France, in line with knowledge from the nationwide water monitoring system, out of 422 groundwater areas noticed, 125 are already at a really low stage; 120 at a low stage; and 97 at a reasonably low stage.
Venice’s world-famous canals are additionally operating dry, with many gondolas mendacity within the mud and the smaller canals not navigable in the meanwhile. At low tide, a water stage of greater than 65 centimetres under the traditional stage was lately measured.
All of northern Italy is struggling. According to the newspaper La Repubblica, after a month with out rain in Italy’s “Food Valley” within the Emilia-Romagna area, there’s a threat of a 40% drop in nationwide meals manufacturing.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
