A rainfall deficit will badly impact farming yields, the European Commission has warned.
Europe is experiencing what appears to be the worst drought in five centuries, the European Commission warned on Tuesday, citing a new analysis released by the EU’s Joint Research Center (JRC).
The August report highlighted the continued impact of extreme weather on farming. Almost half of the EU, or 47%, remains under warning conditions due to a shortage of moisture in the soil, while 17% of the EU is on alert due to the negative effects the weather has on crops. Together, they constitute 64% of the EU, the statement pointed out.
The scientists predict a decline in summer crop yields due to the extreme conditions, with the performance of grain maize, sunflower, and soybean farms hit the worst and dropping by 16%, 15%, and 12%, respectively. There is, however, a silver lining in that winter crops saw somewhat better yields, the JRC said.
“According to JRC experts, the current drought still appears to be the worst since at least 500 years. Final data at the end of the season will confirm this preliminary assessment,” the commission said.
European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel said the combination of severe drought and heat waves created “unprecedented stress” on water levels across the entire EU.
“We are currently noticing a wildfires season sensibly above the average and an important impact on crops production,” she said.
The impact goes beyond the agriculture sector, since shallow European rivers cannot generate as much hydropower, provide as much cooling for industrial plants or serve as transport lines as well as they would under normal circumstances, the statement added.
Image credit: Francesco Ungaro
Really? I am in Europe next to a large farming area. Everything is green, the crops are being harvested as with other years, full production, and the lakes and rivers are as high as ever. I guess that is what we call, seeing is believing, compared to hearsay? And the reason why in most courts hearsay evidence is inadmissible. Funny, my sister is in the UK, and she watches the BBC, she emailed me saying the Rhine was dried up, and it will mean I will starve, haha.
And by the way, if there was a shortage of water this summer for farmers, it would probably have something to do with the highly disturbing chemtrails. We are lucky if we can get two or three days a week, without them. Again, seeing is believing. I don’t think the average Kiwi has experienced chemtrails yet, but they are very unsettling, and infuriating, seeing as no one talks about them, so we have no idea what is in them, but yes, we are effectively being sprayed like bugs. Who knows what the later side-effects will be? But they obviously don’t create rain, do they?
If EU region is in drought, the worst suffering population will be those who produce food. Stealing food from regions/countries and not paying a fair price are part of “European Values”. Food and energy resources are completely inadequate for EU and they are not self sufficient at all. So steal from others; from Ukraine for example.
Food is cheap in Britain because a supply chain is created to get food from France/Spain or African and Asian countries manipulating the currency to pay for it. USD hegemony moves food and other resources to US, and being a subservient colony, Britain gets rewarded but for how long?