Europe is suffering from a severe heat wave and drought that has had tragic consequences for farmers and ecosystems already threatened by climate change and pollution. The drought has caused the loss of agricultural products and other foodstuffs at a time when supply shortages and Russia's war against Ukraine have soared inflation.
According to the “phys” website, in France, which is experiencing the worst drought ever, flames erupted in pine forests, and the sky lit up with intense orange light in the Gironde region, which was engulfed by fire and in the neighboring lands, and more than 68 square kilometers were burned. .
French wildfires have already forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people and destroyed at least 16 homes.
While the Germans and Poles faced mass fish deaths in a river that flowed between their countries, along the Oder, which flows north from the Czech Republic to the Baltic Sea, volunteers were collecting dead fish that had washed up on shores in Poland and Germany.
Piotr Nieznanski, director of conservation policy at the World Wide Fund for Nature in Poland, said it appears that a toxic chemical has been released into the water by industry and that declining water levels due to drought have made conditions more dangerous for fish.
He added that a tragic event is taking place along the Oder River, an international river, and there is no transparent information about what is going on, calling on government authorities to investigate the matter, and people living along the river have also been warned not to swim in the water or even touch it.
Poland's state water management agency said drought and high temperatures could cause even small amounts of pollution to lead to an environmental disaster, but did not specify the source of the pollution.
Also, in northern Serbia, the dry basin of the Conopljankso Reservoir became full of dead fish that were unable to survive the drought.
The water level along the Rhine in Germany was in danger of dropping to the point that it could become difficult to move goods, including vital energy items such as coal and gasoline.
A national park in Portugal's highest ridge, Serra da Estrela, was devastated by a massive fire, and about 1,500 firefighters, 476 vehicles and 12 aircraft were deployed to fight it, but it was very difficult to reach the blaze caused by winds 250 kilometers away. (150 miles) northeast of Lisbon, with inaccessible peaks of 2,000 meters (6,560 ft) and deep valleys, the fire has charred 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of forest.
In Britain, temperatures hit a record high of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in July, and the Met Office issued a new “scorching heat” warning, with temperatures expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
It was also one of the driest summers on record in southern Britain, and the Met Office's Met Office said there was an exceptional risk of bushfires over the next few days.
In the same context, drought and high temperatures in Switzerland put fish populations at risk, and authorities began removing fish from some of the streams that were dry.