drought

Copernicus finds record share of Europe under heat stress

Just over half of Europe faced "very strong" heat stress at some point this summer. That is the largest share on record, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Friday, Oct. 2. Western Europe had its hottest…

WMO reports 2025 river flows among driest in 35 years

The World Meteorological Organization said on Thursday that rivers worldwide experienced one of their driest years in decades in 2025, with below-normal flows recorded in more than a third of the world's river basins — one of the worst such…

Panama Canal cuts put up to $10B in CARICOM imports at risk

New transit caps at the Panama Canal could expose between US$8 billion and US$10 billion in annual Caribbean Community imports to higher costs, supply delays and reduced shipping frequency, the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation warned this week.

Study finds Amazon climate extremes rising far faster than averages suggest

The Amazon rainforest faces a growing threat of catastrophic drought and wildfire as the 2026 El Niño — forecast to be the strongest in modern history — intensifies across the Pacific, arriving just two years after the devastating 2024 drought…

Panama Canal warns daily transits could fall to 27

The Panama Canal could see daily ship crossings fall to as few as 27 vessels in the coming months, canal administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta warned, as a worsening El Niño-driven drought threatens water levels at one of the world's…

Europe’s summer heatwaves kill at least 35,000 people

Europe has recorded at least 35,000 excess deaths during a summer of back-to-back heatwaves, a toll that rivals the catastrophic 2003 season and is expected to climb further as August mortality data remains incomplete. Germany, France, and Spain account for…

EU report shows summer crop yields down up to 14% amid heat and drought

Exceptional heatwaves and prolonged drought have reduced summer crop yields across the European Union by up to 14%, according to a new European Commission report released on Tuesday, August 25, as the bloc's agriculture sector faces one of its most…

Study: climate change could triple global wheat prices

Widespread drought across the world's major wheat-growing regions is already driving global wheat prices higher — and climate change could make it far worse, according to research published this week in the journal Earth's Future.

Panama Canal caps daily ship transits as El Niño drought worsens

The Panama Canal Authority announced on Thursday that it will cap the number of vessels permitted to transit the waterway each day beginning in September, as rainfall deficits linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon continue to deplete the artificial…

CMA CGM adds emergency surcharge as Rhine hits record lows

French container shipping giant CMA CGM announced on Friday it will impose an "inland emergency fee" on shipments routed through major European ports, as record-low water levels on the Rhine and other rivers continue to cripple barge operations across the…

Europe’s heat and drought drive shift to climate-resilient farming

Europe's summer of extreme heat and drought is exacting a heavy economic toll, with crop failures, stalled freight traffic on major rivers, and disrupted nuclear power generation combining to threaten growth across the continent. Economists now warn the damage could…

Rhine water levels inch up but remain near record lows

Water levels on the Rhine, one of Europe's busiest shipping arteries, edged up slightly this week but remain near record lows, disrupting transport and industrial production across the continent. The crisis extends across multiple major waterways, with the Danube, Elbe,…

European stocks hit records even as heat costs mount

Prolonged heatwaves and drought are exacting an unprecedented economic toll across Europe this summer, disrupting shipping, straining power systems, and devastating agriculture — yet financial markets have continued to climb to new highs.

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Britain’s wildfires hit record levels as Europe’s fifth heatwave rages

Europe's fifth heatwave of the summer is affecting more than 300 million people across the continent, lasting longer than the deadly 2003 heat event that killed tens of thousands, while wildfires in Britain have reached record levels and severe drought…

Analysts warn French maize crop could halve, deepest EU loss in decades

A summer of relentless heat and drought across Europe is inflicting severe damage on agricultural production, with France's corn crop set to fall 35% to its lowest level since at least 1980, Britain bracing for its worst grain harvest on…

Europe’s drought shrivels crops, could erase EU growth

A relentless summer of heat waves and drought is battering European agriculture from the Netherlands to the Balkans, threatening both summer and winter crop yields and raising alarms about food price inflation across the continent.

Danube crisis squeezes Black Sea grain exports

Record-low water levels on the Danube River are disrupting energy supplies and squeezing grain exports across Central and Eastern Europe, as successive heat waves and months of drought push the continent's second-longest river to historic lows.

Rhine falls to record low, forcing force majeures across European industry

Europe's Rhine River has fallen to its lowest levels since records began in 1880, crippling inland shipping and forcing major chemical companies to declare force majeure as a prolonged drought and heat wave tighten their grip on the continent.

Climate change made Spain’s wildfires 20 times more likely, study finds

Wildfires raging across Europe have burned more than half a million hectares this year and caused an estimated €15.6 billion to €19.1 billion ($18 billion to $22 billion) in total damage and economic loss, according to a preliminary assessment by…

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Danube drought forces Hungary, Romania to dim cities and cut power

A record-breaking heatwave and historically low water levels on the Danube have plunged Hungary and Romania into their worst energy crises in decades, forcing both countries to dim landmark buildings, curtail industrial production, and appeal to citizens to slash electricity…

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Romania declares state of emergency after Danube crisis shuts nuclear reactor

Romania declared a nationwide state of emergency for the month of August after record-low water levels in the Danube River forced the shutdown of a reactor at the country's only nuclear power plant, cutting roughly a fifth of its electricity…

Extreme heat, not lack of rain, now drives Europe’s droughts, study finds

Human-caused climate change is intensifying drought across Europe not by reducing rainfall but by driving extreme heat that evaporates water from soils, lakes, and rivers at unprecedented rates, according to an analysis published Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group.

Iraq drought uncovers 40 ancient tombs buried for millennia

A severe drought in Iraq has dramatically revealed 40 ancient tombs buried beneath the waters of the Mosul Dam reservoir for over two millennia, offering archaeologists a rare window into the Hellenistic period before rising water levels submerge the site…

13-year drought drove Maya civilization collapse 1,000 years ago

A stalagmite deep within a Mexican cave has revealed that a devastating 13-year drought helped drive the collapse of the Maya civilization around 1,000 years ago, according to research published today in Science Advances. The study provides the most detailed…