Drought

Blazes in Greece burned for a seventh day on Friday, destroying tens of thousands of hectares of land in the northeast alone, in what the EU-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said was the largest recorded wildfire on European soil in years.

With fear over drought rising in Istanbul as water levels in dams continue to drop due to prolonged heatwaves and hot weather, the Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration (İSKİ) has announced the installation of water-conservation devices in houses with high consumption.

The likelihood of an increase in drought, albeit not a high-risk one, in Greece in the next few years is obvious from scientific models used and research conducted in the European Union based on recent temperature increases and rainfall decreases. 

Soaring summer temperatures across southern Europe could prompt a lasting shift in tourist habits, with more travelers choosing cooler destinations or taking their holidays in spring or autumn to dodge the extreme heat, tourism bodies and experts predict.

The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has initiated efforts to reintroduce the cistern system, which was used centuries ago for the purpose of storing water, to combat the recently increasing floods across the country.

The climate change, as in the rest of the world, is taking a heavy toll on Türkiye as extreme weather events in the country are on the rise, an expert has warned, while stressing that cities should stay prepared to face sudden events such as flash floods in the coming years.

Precipitation increased by 254 percent in April compared to 2022 and by 51 percent in the last 50 years, with most parts of the country experiencing humid weather rather than drought for the first time in a while, according to a report by the Turkish State Meteorological Service.

Global food and beverage giant Nestle has said that it would stop extracting from two mineral water wells in eastern France due to drought and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.

Droughts of different intensities are observed in all basins in Türkiye, an Agriculture and Forestry Ministry official has said.

Italy is often plagued by drought during the summer months, and last year a "state of emergency" was declared in several regions due to the worst drought that has hit the country in the last 70 years, reports Euractiv.
This year, the situation is expected to worsen as the country experienced extremely low rainfall during the winter.