A_D_E_P_T
2 hours ago
Glass half full, I suppose. Germany is in the grip of an unusual and prolonged drought -- clear skies, intense daytime heat, no rain.
> https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78gn8zvrx4o
I'm near Graz, in Austria, where we're also in the middle of a drought and in truth I can't remember a summer as hot as this one...
ajmurmann
an hour ago
I think the biggest impact for Germany is gonna be economical from shipping. Much of Germany's industry is along the Rhine and they get their raw materials via barge on the Rhine. The Rhine is already close to all time low which reduces capacity and increases cost. Usually low water happens between August and November. It was already close to record low in July! I wouldn't be surprised if shipping will have to stop entirely some time this year.
I watched a report that has an interview with the CEO of a cereal factory. They get all their wheat via barges. He said they already paid €100k extra this year for low-water surcharges for shipping and that they'd need 6,500 trucks annually if they'd replace the barges with trucks.
eigenspace
13 minutes ago
Yeah. Bad timing that this also coincides with a period where the rail system is in chaos, and running beyond capacity due to overdue upgrades.
toasty228
an hour ago
I was going to write that too, same thing in France: warmest month ever recorded since 1900, 35% sunnier than usual, large fires in places which rarely had small ones in the past, 4 consecutive heat waves in a bit more than a month... nothing to be happy about
kykat
2 hours ago
It's truly unbelievable hot right now, this "good news" of solar production is pretty sad actually
Aldipower
2 hours ago
Southern Germany to be more precise. Northern Germany is slightly affected, but nothing unusual.
ben_w
2 hours ago
https://www.hitzewarnungen.de/index.jsp
https://weatherkit.apple.com/alertDetails/index.html?ids=081...
I'd describe it a little differently myself.
Aldipower
an hour ago
The OP talked about draught, not current heat.
Draught monitor: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=37937
poetaster
24 minutes ago
The Deutsche Wetter dienst is just as 50/50 as any meteorological service. May/June were atypically warm, but rainfall sufficient in the north east. July has been mixed extremes from Saxony to the Baltic with sufficient rain that we have not had to water the Garden. 320km north, Grandmother territory, same. The droughts of previous years were much more destructive. We'll see when the crops come in.
atoav
9 minutes ago
[delayed]
toomuchtodo
2 hours ago
Europe is only going to get hotter and more dry for the foreseeable future.
Extreme Heat Has Transformed What Summer Means Across Generations in Europe - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/world/europe/europe-summe... | https://archive.today/XsX2m - August 1st, 2026
Europe’s Heatwaves Are a Taste of the Climate Costs Yet to Come - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-07-27/europe... | https://archive.today/AqWba - July 27th, 2026
Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the World Average? - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/europe-he... | https://archive.today/o68OH - June 26th, 2026
toasty228
an hour ago
> Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the World Average?
You'll find articles about every single land mass "warming up faster than average"... that's because the average include the 70% of the planet that is covered by oceans, these don't warm up nearly as fast as landmasses. We're all pretending we'll manage +1.5c or +2c by 2050, and in the average Joe's head that not much, in reality we're already fucked, July was +4c above normals in France, and we're in 2026 not 2025.
Australia is Warming Faster than Global Average: https://www.statista.com/chart/20404/mean-annual-temperature...
China warming faster than global average: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202607/02/WS6a462fd5a310986e...
Europe’s warming accelerates beyond global trend: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/europes-warming-...
Warming in Brazil is already higher than the global average: https://www.wwf.org.br/en/?90683/Climate-Warming-in-Brazil-i...
Africa is warming more rapidly than the global average: https://www.cseindia.org/africa-is-warming-more-rapidly-than...
java-man
41 minutes ago
Sabine explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc
spwa4
2 hours ago
TLDR: 3 reasons. First the quickest warming is actually the poles (technically the south pole) which means the North pole cools Europe less. Europe's reduction in CO2 and other pollutants output, cause both more sunlight to hit the ground in Europe and make the likelihood of big airflows coming from the South (ie. Sahara) larger.
And yeah, my read is that this is more arguments in favor of: it doesn't matter which way CO2 evolves, we'll need to take control over the climate if we want cities to remain where they are.
actionfromafar
an hour ago
We could start by running container ships on High Sulphur Fuel Oil. Same CO2, more cushion against Sun Rays.
fhdkweig
an hour ago
We stopped high sulfur when we realized it was causing acid rain. CO2 is also acidifying the oceans, so there aren't a lot of things we can pump into the atmosphere without consequence. Best to avoid doing that altogether.
citrin_ru
30 minutes ago
> We stopped high sulfur when we realized it was causing acid rain
Coal AFAIK a bigger source of acid rains and world has not stopped using coal.
spwa4
an hour ago
We won't stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere (Germany, India and China actually increased coal burning in 2026, in all 3 cases despite all the good news about solar installations). Also we can't prevent fossil fuel producers from digging up fossil fuels.
And, because of entropy, reducing CO2 already in the atmosphere is a non-starter. For one thing, one can reasonably assume that would at minimum require doubling human energy output (because unmixing costs a lot more energy than mixing)
I mean if you put the belief behind the whole CO2 reduction in words, it's like this: if we slightly reduce CO2 output (not stop, reduce by single digit percent), we won't have to adapt. And if you put it like that it becomes easy to see: "no way in hell that's going to be true".
So there's not much of a choice: geoengineering it is. Next question: which method?
rawgabbit
34 minutes ago
Well... the holy grail is something that traps CO2, slows down hurricanes-typhoons, slows down desertification, makes urban heat sinks more bearable. What that could be, I have no idea.
spwa4
a minute ago
You are obviously referring to trees. So assuming that's what you mean: that won't work.
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/why-dont-we-just-plant-lot-t...
Trees quickly reach equilibrium at which point CO2 out equals CO2 in. While they can sequester some CO2 while growing. They also generally cause an albedo increase (forests trap heat). So, for arguments sake, the opposite would actually help more: destroying forests reduces albedo reducing the planet's heat uptake, while not releasing most of the CO2 in the atmosphere, in fact, that causes it to get flushed into the ocean and it won't come back for millenia at least. Despite appearances, forest fires actually help against global warming. But not much.
In other words: right now to merely pause global warming we'd have to stop 99.7% of CO2 usage. If every square meter of the planet was covered in trees, merely to stop global warming from getting worse every year we'd have to stop ... 99.7% of CO2 usage (maybe 98% would do for 2-3 years while the trees are growing)
You want a suggestion that would actually do something? Seeding the oceans would help. It would mean global warming can be paused by a mere drop of 92% of fossil fuel usage, a big increase, at the cost of a HUGE loss of oceanic biodiversity. So I hope it's clear that while that is a far better suggestion, it is very far from a solution, and doesn't come without costs.
I'm sorry to repeat, but no: the planet will not help us and stay static if we just "stop destroying nature". And building a few parks in cities, like it seems your real suggestion is, will do nothing at all.
ajmurmann
an hour ago
I would a well. Unfortunately, it seems that deliberate geoengineering always brings up concerns from people who think it's more ethical to just state at the lever as the trolly goes by. I partially blame the legal system. There won't be a lawsuit about not having deliberately spread more sulfur oxide.
LeBit
2 hours ago
Yeah, but one time in 1389 there was a heat wave! /s
RandomLensman
an hour ago
Somewhat similar to 1992, which had a very hot August and 2nd half of July.
dyauspitr
an hour ago
Yeah I was in Europe for a month last month and this summer was the best ever. It was nice and hot everywhere I went. As a tourist I loved it but I’m the kind of person that looks forward to day long hikes in 110 degree weather.
probably_wrong
18 minutes ago
> Yeah I was in Europe for a month last month and this summer was the best ever.
I imagine you don't intend it like that, but last month killed an extra five thousand people in Germany alone [1], more than one thousand of them in a single day [2].
"People may have died and the economy may be in trouble but my summer was amazing" is not the best take.
[1] https://www.dw.com/en/germany-june-heat-wave-linked-to-5000-...
lava_pidgeon
an hour ago
Either you are a super human walking in water bowling water.
Or some US america who does not get fact that this context is talking about German Energy and the European heat wave and Fahrenheit is not used any metric in this part of the world. I considered especially rude that you assume the reader should convert the value though Fahrenheit is mostly used in USA.
sajithdilshan
2 hours ago
To be frank the best summer I’ve ever had in Berlin. Everyday warm and sunny and love it.
adrianN
29 minutes ago
People are literally dying due to the heat.
toasty228
an hour ago
In 2026 it should be criminal to have such stupid opinions about climate change, the only valid reason to have such takes is if you're a boomer about to kick the bucket.
What's next? "BaCk iN mY DaYs SumMeRs WeRe HoT ToO" ?
mitthrowaway2
an hour ago
I don't think any opinions should be criminal, but some deserve downvotes.