An EU agency announced yesterday that almost two-thirds of European territories are on drought alert or have been warned due to heat waves and low rainfall, so navigation in rivers and lakes is restricted, electricity production and yields for certain crops are restricted.
These scenarios portend an unprecedented economic catastrophe. Of course, it was a catastrophe, the result of multiple plagues, reminiscent of Pharaoh's Ten Plagues.
War, famine, poverty, drought, cold, fire, locust eating, lack of grain and dark days followed.
First, Covid-19. An epidemic
Second, the war in Ukraine. A war at a critical juncture, as the reopening of the world's industries, which have been operating for less than two years due to Covid-19, is just beginning. No one imagines the damage this war will do to the world, the result of which will be starvation due to a lack of basic necessities (inflation), a shortage of natural gas, but also a jump in fuel prices.
The third is hunger, which is also caused by various factors, such as food scarcity caused by war, and drought that "freezes" everything that can be cultivated, but also "freezes" the transportation of all products.
The fourth is poverty, which "hits" the red, because in addition to the decline in all previous years, the Western economy is now sinking due to inflation and shortages, because ultimately what matters is what someone has, not whether they have "paper" to buy. Demonstrations are taking place across the EU over rising costs of basic food and energy. It should be noted that the governments of the four European countries have "fallen" because of their policies on the pandemic and Ukraine.
Fifth, drought, one of the number one problems is the drying up of rivers, which are the EU's main supply channel.
Sixth, the coming cold, due to the lack of natural gas in Europe. This is a feature that German Finance Minister Robert Hümbeck recently described, as Germany is heading for a gas shortage, which means that some industries will have to stop production and lay off workers, some regions will lose entire industrial complexes, supply chains may collapse, people will be required to pay extremely high heating bills, and they will become poorer.
The seventh is fires, which this year burned an unprecedented area on European territory, as Western Europe was in a fire zone all summer, as many fires broke out in heat waves in France, Spain, Croatia and Portugal over the past few days.
Eighth is an unprecedented project of the European Commission that approved crickets, worms and locusts to be eaten as food for European citizens to fend off agricultural yields caused by the war in Ukraine.
The ninth is the lack of grain throughout Europe, because Russia has banned the export of fertilizers to "unfriendly countries", resulting in a reduction in the production of vegetables, grains, etc., and also banned the export of grains, resulting in a reduction in animal feed.
Tenth, there is the thick darkness. At present, electricity prices have become unaffordable and citizens are unable to pay.
Regarding the drought report of the European Drought Observatory (EDO), which is overseen by the European Commission, it is noted that 47% of Europe is in a drought warning state, soil moisture is very low, 17% is in a state of alarm, and vegetation is destroyed.
"Severe droughts have been affecting many parts of Europe since the beginning of the year and have been widening and worsening since the beginning of August," the report said.
Summer crops have taken a hit, with corn production expected to be 16 percent lower than the five-year average in 2022, while yields for soybeans and sunflowers are expected to fall by 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Hydroelectric power generation has also been affected, with a further impact on power producers due to the lack of water to supply the cooling system.
Low water levels hinder navigation in rivers and lakes, such as along the Rhine, while reduced ship loads affect the transportation of coal and oil.