'Meanwhile: Wildfires and shifting climate patterns imperil water sources on forested lands, as reservoirs "face dwindling inflows and are filling with sediment, increasing flood risk and reducing their capacity to respond to drought"'
"The West is in a very unique period in terms of both drought and fire with records being broken that go back thousands of years. The climate projections are showing drought conditions will continue to intensify in the future"
Our federal Tourism Minister commenting on the "million dollar" view of the north shore through a thick cloud of wildfire smoke that has been blanketing southwestern BC in the midst of an epic drought & heatwave
'Global food prices are once again facing upward pressure due to the record cost for shipping grain in the U.S., the source of about 20% of world exports...drought conditions have caused water levels in the Mississippi River to drop' increasing costs
Drought has been a huge problem for shipping across large swaths of the northern hemisphere in 2022, impacting distribution of crops & other commodities.
"An unsettling drop in water levels in key European waterways has resulted in immensely strained logistics in shipping commodities throughout the continent, with barges only able to carry one-third or one-quarter of their usual cargo."
As scientists warn of the possibility of the collapse of civilization due to climate change due in part to the loss of societal capacity to provide basic necessities such as food and water:
-1 million impacted by flooding in central Africa (Chad) with widespread crop damage
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-the EU harvests its 'drought-scarred maize crop' - "impacts of the summer drought, despite the sparse return of rainfall, have brought the yield outlook for crops to a rather uniform poor status"
-*321.6 million* acres of crops in U.S. are experiencing drought
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