Feed aggregator
Drought in England could carry on into new year, experts warn
Without lots of heavy rain in autumn and winter, water restrictions could be tightened even further
South-east England could be tipped into severe and devastating drought without above-average rainfall this winter, while current water use restrictions in London and surrounding areas are expected to last until the new year even if rainfall returns, ministers have been told. Severe drought would mean even tighter restrictions, such as bans on non-essential uses of water including cleaning windows and filling and maintaining swimming pools.
Though it is too soon to forecast weather for this winter, anything less than substantial rainfall could lead to London being placed under much stricter measures next year, experts have told the Observer. One Whitehall source said officials were being told to prepare for a potential severe drought throughout the south-east.
Continue reading...‘There’s a nagging fear’: the village that can’t rely on running water
Residents of Everton, Bedfordshire, have learned to live with an on-off supply, and are always prepared for the worst
Yvonne Hinde opens her fridge to reveal three big bottles of water. There are two buckets full in her garden. “We have to be prepared,” she says. She isn’t being dramatic. Like other residents of Everton in Bedfordshire, Hinde, 59, a childminder, can no longer take running water for granted.
Since the start of July the supply has been severely interrupted or cut off five times. Often the taps run dry for hours at a time. The problems have forced the pub to close and the village school to tell children to stay at home. “It makes life really difficult,” says Hinde, who is forced to close her business when the water isn’t running.
Continue reading...EU firefighters rally as wildfire burns in south of France – video
France’s biggest wildfire, which has been burning since Tuesday, spread by high temperatures and dry conditions, has destroyed more than 7,400 hectares of forest in Gironde.
Firefighters from across the EU rallied, most stationed along a 26-mile (40km) active fire-front in the south-west, where the blaze that some have described as 'monstrous' continued to devastate pine forests. The aid rushed to France to help battle wildfires is an unprecedented show of international solidarity
Europe’s rivers run dry as scientists warn drought could be worst in 500 years
Crops, power plants, barge traffic, industry and fish populations devastated by parched waterways
In places, the Loire can now be crossed on foot; France’s longest river has never flowed so slowly. The Rhine is fast becoming impassable to barge traffic. In Italy, the Po is 2 metres lower than normal, crippling crops. Serbia is dredging the Danube.
Across Europe, drought is reducing once-mighty rivers to trickles, with potentially dramatic consequences for industry, freight, energy and food production – just as supply shortages and price rises due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bite.
Continue reading...Dorset blaze probably caused by disposable barbecue – firefighters
Dorset and Wiltshire fire service reports 492% increase in number of August wildfires compared with 2021
A large blaze at a Dorset nature reserve was most likely caused by a barbecue, firefighters have said.
Firefighters battled through the night to bring the fire at Studland Heath under control on Friday.
Continue reading...Climate change: Drought highlights dangers for electricity supplies
CP Daily: Friday August 12, 2022
RGGI, Inc. to block Pennsylvania’s Q3 auction volumes next week unless injunction lifted
Speculators build, emitters trim CCA positions as prices jump
US Congress passes largest-ever climate bill after 1.5-year slog
Colombia’s proposed carbon tax reforms retain phase-in coal framework
It’s time Australia recognised cats and their impact as a major environmental issue | Trent Zimmerman
Domestic cats destroy over one million native animals a day – but Australians still find it hard to accept their own cute little moggie could be a killer
The Macquarie Island parakeet was, by all accounts, an elegant parrot endemic to the island off southern Tasmania that shared its name. We will never really know, because the last of its species was seen in the 1880s.
The lesser bilby inhabited warmer climes – it was found predominantly in the sandy deserts of central Australia. A charismatic but fierce little marsupial, it joined the list of extinct Australian species more recently, with the last known remnants found in a wedge-tailed eagle nest in the late 1960s.
Continue reading...Mass crop failures expected in England as farmers demand hosepipe bans
Leaked documents predict crop failure rates of up to 50% as water companies resist calls to prioritise food production
Experts have warned of widespread crop failures across England, as charities and farmers criticised water companies for dithering over hosepipe bans despite drought being declared across much of the country.
On Friday, the Environment Agency classified eight of the 14 areas of England as being in a drought. Despite this, water companies, including Anglian Water, Southern Water and South West Water have not brought in hosepipe bans. Thames Water said it does not plan to expedite a hosepipe ban expected next week.
Continue reading...UK to introduce more long-term relief to avoid carbon leakage
As drought blights the UK, the Tories have their heads buried in the sand | Caroline Lucas
England’s privatised water system is compounding the climate emergency. Instead of fixing it, the government has gone awol
A drought has officially been declared across vast swathes of England. Rivers and reservoirs are evaporating in front of our eyes. Water may soon be rationed and crop irrigation restricted. Drought, and the extreme heat that exacerbates it, isn’t some occasional freak occurrence that can be brushed off as “super scorchio” fun once or twice a year. It’s a consequence of years of inaction on the climate emergency. This is producing a perfect storm of energy insecurity, food supply chaos and extreme weather that is wreaking havoc on society.
Getting a firm grip on this crisis requires both immediate and long-term solutions. Our lame duck government is offering neither. It’s clear that the privatisation experiment for water companies has failed. They’re fit for profit, not for purpose. The head of Thames Water – the company responsible for the supply fiasco at Northend in Oxfordshire – is set to receive a £3.1m “golden hello” for signing on as CEO. English water firms across the board have handed over £72bn to shareholders in dividends.
Caroline Lucas is the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion
Continue reading...Hosepipe ban: millions more face restrictions as drought declared in England – video
A drought has been declared across swathes of England amid prolonged dry conditions, with some areas not receiving significant rainfall all summer. A hosepipe ban came into force for about 1.4 million South East Water customers in Kent and Sussex on Friday, but more severe measures may be put in place
Continue reading...German utility EnBW ensures coal supplies amid steady hedging
Euro Markets: Midday Update
The science of drought explained in pictures
Pages
