China News Service, August 21 (Guan Na) "If you see me, cry." Such a warning is engraved on the "Hunger Stone" buried deep in the Elbe River in the Czech Republic.
Today's severe drought in Europe has brought a large number of "hunger stones" back to light.
The dried-up riverbed even exposed historical relics that had been submerged for a long time.
However, under the attack of high temperature and drought, Europe not only felt "hot" and "thirsty", the drought impacted people's livelihood and economy, exacerbated the European energy crisis, and sounded the alarm of climate change.
The Hunger Stone is back
Continued high temperature and little rainfall have caused severe drought in several European countries.
As the water levels of some rivers continue to drop, the "Hunger Stone" is back to light.
On August 17, 2022, local time, in Worms, Germany, the low water level caused the "Hunger Stone" to appear on the shore.
Reuters and the BBC reported that on the banks of Germany's largest river, there have been many "hunger stones" with dates such as 1947, 1959 and 2018.
In fact, these "Hunger Stones" are some riverbed rocks, which often appear only when the water level is extremely low, and some are also engraved with warning messages left by previous people.
The Hunger Stone isn't the only "artifact" to see light in this year's drought. In Spain, which has suffered the worst drought in decades, a ring of Stonehenge at the bottom of a reservoir has been brought back to light.
The report pointed out that the Stonehenge, known as the "Guadalperal Tomb", dates back to 5000 BC.
In the central Spanish province of Cáceres, a ring of Stonehenge has been exposed as the water level of the Valdecanas reservoir plummeted.
And near Prakhovo in eastern Serbia, dozens of warships were exposed.
The warships were confirmed to belong to the Black Sea Fleet of Nazi Germany, and many of the warships still had a large amount of ammunition and explosives left on them.
The water level of the Po River in Italy has dropped, and fishermen nearby found a bomb on the exposed riverbed.
According to reports, the bomb weighed more than 450 kilograms and was left over from World War II.
The bomb was then taken to a safe area for detonation.
Drought warnings are now affecting more than 60 percent of Europe, according to the European Drought Observatory (EDO), and experts say this year could be Europe's worst drought in 500 years.
Countries such as France and Spain have had to start restricting water in recent weeks.
Authorities have also been forced to cut off water supplies in parts of both countries.
more than drought
The problems caused by drought are not only exposed riverbeds and scarce drinking water, but also impacted the livelihood economy of Europe, exacerbated the energy crisis, and sounded the alarm of climate change.
In Villarta de los Montes, Spain, the local reservoir is severely dry, and when you look around, you think it is a desert.
The heat and drought have hit Europe in many ways, with agriculture being the most direct hit.
In Italy's Po River region, a severe drought has dried up paddy fields, and local farmers estimate that this year's rice harvest could be "halved".
Qatar Al Jazeera said that high temperature and drought are causing huge losses to the European economy. According to a study conducted by several European economic experts, a prolonged high temperature heat wave will affect Europe's gross domestic product (GDP), while the same study also predicted that , Europe's GDP growth will be 0.5% lower than in the past few years.
In recent years, the energy crisis encountered from time to time is not "new" to Europe.
However, due to the overall shortage of gas, oil and coal resources caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the huge energy demand caused by the continuous high temperature and drought, the European energy crisis has deteriorated sharply.
Experts say the ongoing drought in Europe is putting pressure on power generation.
Rystad Energy noted that electricity demand in some countries in July was 3% to 8% higher than in the same period last year.
Electricity prices hit new highs in midsummer.
July was the most expensive month on record for electricity prices in Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
British subways, trains and other transportation systems have been forced to slow down and reduce shifts to prevent the danger of track deformation due to high temperature.
A railway worker distributes bottled water to passengers at a London train station.
Affected by various factors, the EU's energy supply cannot be guaranteed, and some European countries have restarted coal power projects for this reason.
In the current situation, the EU's ambitions to tackle climate change are facing difficulties.
The comments pointed out that the energy crisis is pushing European governments to return to their old energy models - including their reliance on coal and fossil fuels, and European countries appear to be abandoning their goal of reducing gas emissions by 55% by 2030, while Such a situation could also further aggravate the current situation.
Authorities, experts and public opinion generally believe that the high temperature and drought that swept Europe this summer has once again sounded the alarm that climate change is intensifying.
The World Meteorological Organization predicts that heat waves will become common in the future due to climate change caused by human activities, with temperatures in Europe rising faster than other regions.
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