![]() ![]() Today, it’s levels are at a mere 26% of its capacity, its lowest levels since 1967. Lake Powell, the second largest water reservoir in the US, is an example of the shrinking sources. We’re still in the 1800s of wasteful and excessive water use,” said Fischer. “We have overallocated the water resources of most of the western United States. The region’s water sources for humans are also shrinking. ![]() In western United States, salmon species and other wildlife depending on them for food are on track to extinction, said Konrad Fisher director of the Water Climate Trust. Combined with extreme temperatures, “anything living in those rivers is really struggling to survive,” she said. With lower water levels, pollutants become more concentrated, increasing their toxicity to wildlife. One of the main problems of extreme drought in freshwater ecosystems are the impacts to biodiversity, explained Colvin. In total, government officials have said water reserves are down 50% from last year. ![]() In the Kurdistan region, the lowering levels of Lake Dukan threaten farmer’s harvest. This year, water reservoirs along the Euphrates such as the Qadisiyah Lake showed significantly low water levels. ![]() The Middle Eastern country has been suffering the effects of increasing heat for several years, with government reports even warning that the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers could go completely dry by 2040. This has left many freshwater ecosystems without their natural “buffer areas,” she added. The impacts were even more significant because most of the continent’s wetlands were also depleted, said Colvin. Cargo ships were forced to carry lighter loads, increasing transport costs. In the Rhine, for example, some parts of the river were running at 45% of their average level for August, said Germany’s Federal Institute of Hydrology. As a result, water levels dropped in some major European rivers such as the Rhine in Germany, the Loire in France and the Tagus in Portugal. After this event, drought was declared in large parts of the country.Īlong the same lines, Europe’s Global Drought Observatory stated in its August report that low precipitation levels combined with “a sequence of heatwaves from May onwards”. In Europe, for example, the UK’s heatwave would have been almost impossible without current climate change, which has already warmed the planet by 1,2☌. However, Hoell added that “almost all regions of the globe have observed a trend to increasing temperatures that have led to more intense and longer duration heat events.” “We are clearly witnessing the impacts of climate change,” said W enjian Zhang, WMO assistant secretary-general.The situation in China is “complex”, he said, and has tested the country’s disaster prevention and relief work.Īlthough many of these water bodies -such as Lake Poyang- drop seasonally, this year’s drought was the worst in recorded history, Chinese officials said.Īttribution to climate change can be different depending on the region and can only be determined by conducting local studies, said Andrew Hoell, co-lead of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Drought Task Force. This led to suppliers to Tesla, Toyota and Foxconn shutting down their factories due to lack of hydropower in the Three Gorges Dam. Along the Yangtze river, for example, precipitation was 80% lower than usual, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). ![]()
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