Scieists at University College London have found that large parts of southern Europe are drying up, with far-reaching consequences.
According to RCO News Agency, A new analysis by University College London (UCL) scieists, using two decades of satellite data, shows that large parts of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, with fresh water supplies declining across southern and ceral Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.
According to the Guardian, Scieists from University College London, in collaboration with Watershed Investigations and The Guardian, analyzed satellite data from 2002 to 2004 that track changes in the Earth’s gravity field.
Because water is heavy, changes in groundwater, rivers, lakes, soil moisture, and glaciers are reflected, allowing satellites to effectively measure how much water is stored.
The findings indicate a severe imbalance. Northern and northwestern Europe, especially Scandinavia, parts of Great Britain and Portugal have become wetter. Meanwhile, large parts of the south and southeast, including parts of Britain, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Romania and Ukraine, have become drier.
“Scieists say climate analysis can be seen in the data,” said Mohammad Shams al-Doha, professor of water crisis and risk reduction at University College London. When we compare the total groundwater storage data with the climate data set, we see that the trends are generally correlated.
Shams al-Doha coinued: This should be a wake-up call for politicians who are still hesita about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We are no longer talking about limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but we are probably moving towards two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and we are now seeing the consequences.
PhD researcher Arifin separated groundwater reserves from total groundwater data and found that trends in these more resilie bodies of water reflect the bigger picture, confirming that much of Europe’s hidden freshwater reserves are being depleted.
Trends in the UK are differe. Shams al-Doha said: In general, the west is getting wetter; While the east is getting drier, this signal is getting stronger. Although total rainfall may remain the same or even increase slightly, the pattern is changing. We see heavier rainfall and longer dry periods, especially in summer.
Shams al-Doha said that groundwater appears to be more resilie to climate change than surface water, but heavy summer rains often mean more water is lost through runoff and flash floods; While the groundwater feeding season may be shorter in wier.
He added: In the southeast of England, where groundwater supplies about 70% of public water, these variable rainfall patterns can create serious challenges.
According to data from the European Environme Agency, total water withdrawals from surface and groundwater sources across the EU decreased between 2000 and 2022, but groundwater withdrawals increased by 6 perce, driven by public water supply (18 perce) and agriculture (17 perce).
This is a vital resource. Across EU member states, groundwater accous for 62% of total public water and 33% of agricultural water demand in 2022.
The spokesperson of the European Commission said that the water resilience strategy of this commission was developed with the aim of helping member couries to adapt their water resource manageme to climate changes and to deal with human pressures.
This strategy was developed with the aim of creating a smart water economy and is accompanied by the recommendation of the commission on water efficiency, which calls for an improveme in efficiency of at least 10% by 2030. With water leakage levels across the EU ranging from eight to 57 perce, the Commission says reducing pipe losses and modernizing infrastructure will be crucial.
Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said: “It’s worrying to see this long-term trend because we’ve seen some really big droughts recely and we keep hearing that this wier we might get less rain than normal and we’re already in a drought.” If we don’t get the rain we need next spring and summer, there will be dire consequences for us in England. We will face severe water restrictions and this will make life very difficult for everyone.
The Environme Agency has previously warned the UK that if there is no significa rain in the autumn and wier, it will have to prepare for a drought that will last uil 2026.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: There is increasing pressure on our water resources. That’s why the governme is taking decisive action, including the developme of nine new reservoirs, to help ensure long-term resilience.
On the other hand, Klock said, simply promising very large reservoirs that won’t be tapped for decades won’t solve the problem immediately. We need to focus on water reuse in the first place, use less water, separate potable water from recycled water that we can use, use nature-based solutions and think about how we build. We are not doing these things fast enough to keep up with these long-term trends.
According to Shams al-Doha, Europe’s drought trend will have far-reaching impacts, harming food security, agriculture and water-depende ecosystems, especially groundwater-fed habitats. Shams Al-Doha said: “The decrease in Spanish reserves could directly affect the UK, which is heavily depende on Spain and other European couries for fruit and agricultural products.”
He added: The types of climate effects that have long been seen throughout the southern world, from South Asia to Africa and the Middle East, are now much closer to us, and climate change has clearly affected Europe itself.
Saying that “we have to accept that climate change is real, it’s happening, and it’s affecting us,” Shams al-Doha called for better water manageme and embracing new and even unconveional ideas, including widespread rainwater harvesting in couries like Britain.
Globally, drought hotspots are emerging in the Middle East, Asia, South America, along the US West Coast and across Canada, with Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard also showing significa drought trends.
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