Records show that Europe has never been as dry as in recent decades. Drought has direct consequences on our lives, not least because it threatens basic foodstuffs such as milk. Remember that a cow needs more than 100 litres of water per day to produce milk, and that recently farms have been closing down because they are unable to compete with macro farms on price.
Countries such as Spain have been forced to import milk from other nations in Europe. But as Europe is also suffering from severe droughts, it could end up importing from the US and China. Something similar was seen in the southern hemisphere summer in Argentina and Brazil.
Beer provides another striking illustration of the impact of drought. Recently, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador considered halting beer production in the northern states, which are suffering from severe drought.
Monterrey is the second most populous city in the country and home to powerful breweries. Beer production requires large amounts of water and in northern Mexico is compromising domestic water supplies. Studies indicate that climate change is threatening the brewing industry in several parts of the world.
Driest years despite deluge
Contrasting rainfall patterns mean some years bring floods (for example, in 2021) and other years, droughts (2022), and sometimes this happens in virtually the same places.
Despite the apparent contradiction, and climate change scepticism this can fuel, these opposing effects are triggered by the same process: the warming of the atmosphere by the emission of greenhouse gases. This warming increases climate variability and makes it more rare for rain to fall gently and continuously.
