Europe heatwave: France and Germany deal with aftermath of extreme heat - BBC News

Much of Europe is baking in record heat, which has exposed riverbeds and triggered restrictions on water use in many areas.

Water levels in the key German river the Rhine have stabilised after dropping dramatically during a drought in the area.

Officials in France have said a major fire in the south-west has been brought under control, meaning 8,000 people can return to their homes.

#Europe #BBCNews

[Pax_Veritas]

Northern Irish speaking. For the last 10 years we've been jokingly supporting climate change as it started to get hotter and dryer here. We are deprived sun-worshippers. Now however the climate has changed in shocking ways. I haven't cut my grass for a month it usually needs cut every week during summer. It's so hot the pot plants and garden need watered every day.

If there was a hosepipe ban the garden would already be dead. It's not just that it's hotter but it doesn't rain like it used to. It doesn't rain as frequently and we have what I call "impotent clouds" that can only force out a tiny dribble, not even enough to make the ground look wet, then the rain disappears. What is going on why does it not rain anymore in Ireland? Why are there days that are so hot you can't sit in the sun for long periods? What used to be rare is becoming common and what used to be common is becoming rare!

[hernandezxavier]

Does it bother people that central banks in developed economies, including the US Federal Reserve, control inflation? The Federal Reserve has an inflation target of around 2% and adjusts monetary policy to combat inflation if prices rise too high or too fast, but I doubt they have been doing their job lately because they could be profiting from it.

[blackdragongametech]

And here in Asia we are getting much more rain than usual. Climate change is really frightening. We need to act up quickly to save the climate.

[MeteoAlmennoSS]

What Europe is experiencing is truly disarming. The alpine lakes on the Orobic Prealps above Bergamo are empty ... Crazy !!!

[armandofernandez]

It makes me wonder, how could it be possible that after all of these desastres, some ppl still don't understand the consequences of climate change. We have to react right now otherwise it will be too late.

[aronrendkivuli]

The problem is that even if all people have stopped all machinery that emit co2, the ice would still melt, more co2 would arise and heat would still increase. Food growing must be protected and soil degradation must be stopped

[kpokpojiji]

This is probably the coolest summer people will experience from now on.

[danthemen]

Thank you for sharing! What a sad time for Europe right now.

[schindlerteejay]

Yet here we are taking the piss out of climate change and the energy bill crisis by making it worse. I sure love this country.

[maydomuz]

That's it. We've killed the planet.

[wallflower]

I love the woman's way of reporting, caring and knowledgeable.

[TheCommunicationCoach]

"...carries coal to the power stations here." Hmm, seems like a connection here....? LOL

[Sarahlenea]

Now that the soil has become hard and compacted, water will find it much harder to penetrate and will run off more. If there is heavy rain in the coming months, beware of flooding and mudslides! And it won't restore the water table... Let's hope we get some light but continuous rain over 10-15 days to progressively wet the ground.

[elvenkind]

Here in Norway it's been the worst summer since 1947! It's been rain, rain and more rain. I know it's wrong, but I somewhat envy the "extreme heat" in the south of Europe.

[mpeds]

I’d love to work the river bed with a metal detector

[petercricket]

A very wise River.. it drops its water level so the coal doesn't get through..

[joseenoel]

How could people prefer blind stupidity/ignorance/staying uneducated over facts?

[simonyapp]

Let's just stop and listen to this issue ''River levels are nearly too low to operate the diesel-burning ships that move coal to the power station which once burned will add more carbon to the atmosphere increasing the warming and extreme weather and thus making the river dry up or flood more often....How thick are we as a collective! God, it saddens me.

[kyqorioskygo]

Although sea water can be filtered become water. It is still not fast enough and very costly. A newer technology must be discovered to remove salt water to be consumed

[zhu]

We've taken and taken and taken from nature.
It's time to give back now.