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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Environment & Climate

What Really Helps Europe Cope With Drought

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Explainer Named sources Context piece
  • Drought conditions are spreading across Europe, with rivers reaching historic lows, harvests falling below average and some countries restricting household water use.
  • Households account for less than 20% of European water use, while agriculture and power-plant cooling make up the largest shares.
  • Climate policy expert Gisela Elsner says countries need a combination of targeted measures, with European data indicating potential annual savings of 10% to 40%.

Europe’s drought is no longer confined to its traditionally driest regions. Satellite data for August showed extremely dry conditions occurring as far north as Denmark and Sweden, areas more commonly associated with regions such as the Sahel.

The pressure is visible across the continent. The Rhine and Danube, two of Europe’s longest rivers, have fallen to historic lows, disrupting inland shipping. Farmers from Germany to Ukraine report below-average harvests, while the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany have announced restrictions on household water use.

We've seen drought risks expanding northward during the last decade.

— Gisela ElsnerShe described the geographic spread of drought risk across Europe.

Southern and Western Europe remain particularly affected, but drought risks have also moved northward over the past decade, according to Gisela Elsner, a climate and sustainability policy officer at the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation. “Central and Western Europe, but also southeastern European countries, are increasingly vulnerable due to climate change,” she said.

Central and Western Europe, but also southeastern European countries, are increasingly vulnerable due to climate change.

— Gisela ElsnerShe explained that vulnerability is increasing beyond southern Europe.

Households use a relatively small share of Europe’s water. Depending on the country, average daily household consumption ranges from 50 to 300 litres per person, accounting for less than 20% of total use. Agriculture, especially irrigation, and cooling for nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants consume most of the water withdrawn.

In Greece, Turkey and Spain, agriculture accounts for much of the nearly 2,000 litres withdrawn per person each day. Electricity cooling is the largest factor in countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands and Estonia, where total daily withdrawals range from 1,000 to 2,000 litres per person.

It is not yet a matter of not having water in our taps anymore. But we need to prioritize and use our water resources efficiently.

— Gisela ElsnerShe argued that Europe must adapt by managing available water more efficiently.

“There is no single solution that is sufficient to solve this challenge,” Elsner said. “It has to be a combined bundle of measures.” A European Environment Agency report found that EU countries could save between 10% and 40% of water annually through targeted strategies. Elsner said the priority was efficient use of available supplies, rather than an immediate risk of dry household taps.

There is no single solution that is sufficient to solve this challenge. It has to be a combined bundle of measures.

— Gisela ElsnerShe said countries need multiple coordinated measures rather than one answer.
About this summary

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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