Briefly SPOTLIGHT ON CLIMATE


Drought in Europe: rivers run dry.. . Across Europe, drought has reduced once- mighty rivers to trickles, with potentially dramatic consequences. The Loire, the longest river in France, could be crossed on foot in places; in Italy, the Po was 2 m lower than normal; Serbia dredged the Danube. Driven by climate breakdown, an unusually dry winter and spring, followed by record-breaking summer temperatures and repeated heatwaves, have left Europe’s essential waterways under-replenished and, increasingly, overheated.With no significant rainfall recorded for almost 2 months across western, central and southern Europe, the drought could be the continent’s worst in .500 years. Low water levels in Europe’s rivers present a major challenge for freight transport: although the EU has said boost- ing waterborne freight by 25% is one of its green transition priorities, Germany is now working to divert it to rail and road. Apart from the economic impacts, low river levels and high water temperatures can prove fatal to many species, further exacerbating the biodiversity crisis. Source: The Guardian (2022) theguardian. com/environment/2022/aug/13/europes- rivers-run-dry-as-scientists-warn-drought- could-be-worst-in-500-years


.. . and large-scale wildfires rage Across Europe, an area equivalent to one- fifth of Belgium has been ravaged by flames as successive searing heatwaves and a his- toric drought propel the continent towards what experts say is likely to be a record year for wildfire destruction. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), 659,541 ha of land burned across the continent between January and mid August, the most at this time of year since records began in 2006. The figure is 56% higher than the previous record in 2017. Then, 420,913 ha burned over the same period, and 988,087 ha by the end of the year. On present trends, more than 1 million ha could be lost to wild- fires this year. Wildfires in the EU have his- torically occurred mainly in countries in the Mediterranean region, but since 2010 fires have been blazing in central and northern countries that normally do not experience fires in their territory. Source: The Guardian (2022) theguardian. com/world/2022/aug/15/wildfires-europe- burn-area-equivalent-one-fifth-belgium


Scientists welcome US climate bill Several US agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Energy, will see a significant influx of cash from a new climate and tax bill that President Joe Biden signed in August. Scientists wel- comed the Inflation Reduction Act, which pledges USD 369 billion in climate invest- ments over the next decade, but also stated that more work is needed to counter global warming. The legislation would cut US greenhouse gas emissions by c. 30–40% below 2005 levels by 2030, bringing the country closer to delivering on its pledge of a 50% reduction. The Inflation Reduction Act allocates c. USD 490 million for climate andweather forecasting atNOAA, including USD 50 million for climate research grants. Through a competitive grant programme, it also funds research into eco-friendly jet fuel, thereby curbing emissions from air tra- vel. It provides USD 60 billion in grants and tax credits for clean energy investments and projects to clean up pollution in disadvan- taged communities. Source: Nature (2022) nature.com/articles/ d41586-022-02223-8


Irreversible declines in freshwater storage projected in parts of Asia by 2060 The Tibetan Plateau, often referred to as the water tower of Asia, supplies freshwater for nearly two billion people. New research projects that climate change, under a scen- ario of weak climate policy, will cause irreversible declines in freshwater storage in the region, leading to a total collapse of the water supply for central Asia and Afghanistan and a near-total collapse for northern India, Kashmir and Pakistan by the middle of the century. Despite its im- portance, the impacts of climate change on past and future terrestrial water storage, which includes all the water above and below ground, in the Tibetan Plateau have largely been underexplored. The research team found that climate change in recent decades has led to severe depletion in terrestrial water storage (a reduction of 15.8 gigatons/year) in certain areas of the Tibetan Plateau and substantial increases (5.6 gigatons/year) in terrestrial water stor- age in others. These patterns are probably caused by the competing effects of glacier retreat, degradation of seasonally frozen ground, and expansion of lakes. Source: Science Daily (2022) sciencedaily. com/releases/2022/08/220815112815.htm


African wildlife parks under threat from climate change Africa’s national parks, home to iconic wildlife species such as lions, elephants and buffaloes, are increasingly threatened by below-average rainfall and new infra- structure projects, stressing habitats and the species that rely on them. A prolonged drought in much of the continent’s east, exacerbated by climate change, and large scale developments, including oil drilling and livestock grazing, are hampering con- servation efforts in protected areas, several environmental experts say. The at-risk parks stretch from Kenya in the east, home to Tsavo and Nairobi National Parks, south to the Mkomazi and Serengeti parks in Tanzania, the Quirimbas and Gorongosa parks in Mozambique and the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa, and west to the Kahuzi Biega, Salonga and Virunga reserves in Congo. The parks not only protect flora and fauna but also act as natural carbon sinks. An estimated 38%of Africa’s biodiversity areas are under severe threat from climate change and infrastruc- ture development. Source: National Observer (2022) nationalobserver.com/2022/08/11/news/ african-wildlife-parks-threat-climate-change


Global heating threatens sea turtles as sex ratio shifts to more females Sea turtles live in the ocean but come up onto beaches to lay their eggs in the sand. The temperature of the sand determines whether an egg becomes a male or female turtle: when it is cooler, more eggs become males, whereas more of the eggs become fe- males in warmer sand. As the planet is get- ting hotter, a lot more turtles in key nest- ing sites are being born female. The precise temperature at which the sex ratio becomes severely skewed differs between species and locations, but at c. 29 °C, there is often a 50:50 split between male and female hatch- lings. As temperatures rise globally, there are more female turtles. This is called feminiza- tion, and it could be a long-term threat to sea turtles, as both males and females are needed to reproduce. The same issue may also threaten other reptiles with tempera- ture-dependent sex determination, such as alligators. Potential mitigations include providing more shade on beaches, covering nests in lighter-coloured sand or moving nests to cooler spots. Source: Independent (2022) independent. co.uk/climate-change/news/sea-turtles- florida-global-warming-b2139288.html


This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Oryx, 2022, 56(6), 803–808 © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605322001168


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