Europe's Drought Could Have a Long Afterlife
Apocalyptic weather has historically been followed by an equally horrible sequel: social upheaval.
There used to be a lake here.
Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesEurope has been burning. As a brutal drought and record-breaking heat gripped the continent this summer, crops withered and forest fires raged. Thunderstorms have been cooling things off but are not expected to end the drought and may even create new problems of their own: flash flooding and falling trees.
The apocalyptic weather is not without precedent, as the reemergence of centuries-old “hunger stones” in the continent’s river beds attest. But as climate change makes such crises more frequent, it’s worth remembering an important point: Historical episodes of meteorological mayhem have sown chaos, fueling everything from social unrest to pandemics.