Europe's drought could be the worst in 500 years. Water levels are low, farmland parched

 

1. Europe's drought could be the worst in 500 years, warns researcher:

"Just to give you an idea the 2018 drought was so extreme that, looking back at least the last 500 years, there were no other events similar to the drought of 2018, but this year I think it is really worse than 2018."
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2. Water levels in western Europe’s rivers, lakes and reservoirs are low, even dry, amid the worst drought in decades, straining clean water supplies, hampering freight river and tourism and threatening crop yields.

The Doubs is expected to flow through a forested canyon and cascade over waterfalls before emptying into Lac des Brenets, a draw for tourists in the Jura region of eastern France. But after months of no significant rain, water from the river has receded into the canyon and is slowly reaching the lake in a narrow channel.
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3. In Spain, farmers in the south fear a severe drought could cut olive oil production by nearly a third at the world’s largest producer. In France, which like Spain has had to deal with recent forest fires, trucks are delivering water to dozens of villages without water.

In Germany, freighters cannot sail fully loaded along the Rhine, a major freight artery, and along Italy’s longest river, the Po, great sandbars are now baking in the sun as water levels drop sharply.

In July, Italy declared a state of emergency for the areas surrounding the Po River, which accounts for more than a third of the country’s agricultural production.