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Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

fortune.com

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Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#241

Post by epolanski »

Gud wrote: post #143
epolanski wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy it. Climate change is related to our consumptions, period, focusing only on energy or transport doesn't tackle the whole problem: we consume too much, eat too much (cattle and fish in particular) and destroy too much in our quest for more and more. Inefficient transport or energy is just one aspect of the whole problem. But I'm tired of hearing how it is just a matter of energy or transport, it's literall…

"A third of the problem" is fucking huge

Sure, which is why I used the image of "missing the forest for the tree, even if the tree is huge".

But it's our consumption and expectations that feed into it.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#242

Post by consumer451 »

tmountain wrote: post #223
formvoltron wrote: post #105

How do we get Earth back to something resembling the steady state we know can work long term? 1. Electrify almost everything that can reasonably be electrified. Move quickly to EVs, and replace anything that can practically become electric with an electric version. Self driving & fleet utilization will push transportation cost per mile lower than ever before. For the power grid, data centers, and other large 24/7 con…

This all sounds good, but the Government of one of the world's primary super powers (The United States) is currently unwilling to participate in fighting climate change, so any plan seems DOA without a major policy change on that front.

Agreed, and also Moscow sees this as a huge positive change. More ice-free ports, more arable land, plus avoiding action means they get to keep selling their major export.

Europe is now really stuck between two huge enemies, regarding climate. We can do a lot to prepare, we just need to wake tf up.

Our Union gives us many advantages. We just need to use it before our enemies destroy it.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#244

Post by epolanski »

locallost wrote: post #134
epolanski wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an European, no, current situation is unprecedented. It was getting bad already, but like this? Absurd.

I agree with that, but was specifically referring to the description of everything being very dry in that area. I noticed this already 15 years ago, the area around Budapest was much more yellow and dry compared to countries up north. But yes, the intensity and especially the duration of the heat has intensified. I stopped visiting my family in the south of Europe around five years ago, and visit in either fall or sp…

I don't think it ever got to the current levels where even nuclear plants had to be stopped due to lack of water in the Danube.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#245

Post by triceratops »

znpy wrote: post #138
mchusma wrote: post #118

This is all solvable with abundance. We could put together nuclear power with solar and desalination and carbon removal. Let’s start acting more like a kardishev II civilization.

[flagged]

I blame fossil fuel companies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_deni...

They're the ones who lied about climate change. They also funded anti-nuclear propaganda.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#246

Post by zeristor »

bobthepanda wrote: post #92
lukaslalinsky wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar observation this year. In 2015, I was in California, was doing some hiking on the weekends, and I found it very unnatural how all the grasses were dry, trails dusty, on the hills/mountains. I came back to Slovakia, and I was happy to see the green grass. Fast-forward to 2026, and our grasses are equally dry and trails are equally dusty. Water management seems to be more important than ever, because th…

Underground cisterns are generally the way to do it and even the Romans were building them

The UK had a hugely wet start to the year, but that’s part of the pattern.

More intense rain fall then dry spells.

The high prolonged hot spells, with the wind can really make a lot of the land dry out.

So many dead and dying Field Maples around

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#247

Post by Hikikomori »

znpy wrote: post #138
mchusma wrote: post #118

This is all solvable with abundance. We could put together nuclear power with solar and desalination and carbon removal. Let’s start acting more like a kardishev II civilization.

[flagged]

Where did the greens hold power?

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#248

Post by kayo_20211030 »

I read this article, all of it. I'm still trying to square the circle of how a report about the tribulations of fish-farming on the Danube align with the broader concept of the "Desertification in Europe". To me, it seems like a bs, but credible, AI article about fish-farming challenges on the Danube which met some sloppy editor who simply stuck a more click-baity headline on it - one that was completely unrelated to the content.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#249

Post by fakedang »

herbst wrote: post #228
bestouff wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno about that. I'm living in the mountains (French Alps) and it's unusually dry here. Trees are dying.

Same here in the Swiss Alps. Doesn't look so bad, but rain is WAY below what it should be. Still is

Not in the Alps, but mid summer looked like the start of autumn. At this rate, it won't be long until we don't even have an autumn like the tropics.

Swiss Tourism Agency will have to work overtime now promoting Tiktok clips and Insta reels, because of Rösti's stupid policy. And the country is going to pay for it over the next few decades.

Re: Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

#250

Post by mschuster91 »

pythux wrote: post #160
mschuster91 wrote: post #47

Just came back from a bike tour through rural Bavaria, it's insane how dusty everything is - and that despite a short but intense rain today night. The farmers around here are pretty much screwed this season, and not just the crop farmers but the cattle farmers as well, as they have to buy lots of feed now that they'd only have to buy in winter.

Compared to, e.g. France, this week’s Bavaria looked refreshingly green. Not saying it’s great but it didn’t feel too dry (maybe it depends where specifically?). I didn’t know about the farmers’ struggles, though.

Yeah France got truly fucked over from what I've heard this year. We in Germany only caught the trail of the heatwaves and that already was enough for me, France got fried.
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