About half of England is suffering a severe drought, brought
about by a drastic decline in rainfall.
Northern Ireland has plenty of water, but large parts of
England are dry as a bone with water in reservoirs at much lower levels than normal.
People are using water faster than it can be replenished.
Some parts of Devon haven't had any rain for 50 consecutive days. England has
had only 7 per cent of the expected rainfall in July.
Some 40 per cent of the English population are under a hosepipe ban.
Farmers are especially concerned that they might run out of
water and their crops will be affected.
It has been known for a long time that unrepaired leaky
water pipes are wasting huge amounts of water, but little is done to seal the
pipes.
Along with a water shortage, people in England are facing
extreme heat waves that are hard to cope with. Companies are being urged to
give their employees time off when it’s simply impossible to work because of
the heat.
I imagine the USA is in a similar situation, but
not as bad as England.
Yes, East Devon has suffered. However, in West Devon we awoke to fine, drizzly rain - the type that soaks into the ground - most welcome!
ReplyDeleteYeah, those data centres probably aren't helping the drought situation are they?! Nor are the water companies - burst pipes, and mismanagement.
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Ms Scarlet: We haven't had any serious rainfall for about two weeks now. The grass on one of our lawns is almost totally dried out.
DeleteA lot of the US is dry and running out of water. A lot of the west is desert with large cities. It's not sustainable. We are dry but expecting rain tomorrow. Fingers are crossed. The data centers are causing a lot of problems. Water, electricity, noise and probably more. It's a messed up world we live in.
ReplyDeleteSandra: The giant data centres are a real liability, draining huge quantities of water and electricity. There might have to be some sort of rationing.
DeleteIn Canada, my Toyota dealer moved one town north, but the new town is already tight for water, regardless of any climate change. As part of my service visit, I can no longer get a free car wash..
ReplyDeleteIn the US, the Trump administration is slashing research and federal jobs, and much of the slashing is around climate and weather because the dear leader says climate change is a hoax. To his congressmen and his followers, our recent heat is just a coincidence.
As for data centres, I wrote to my MP and he wrote back that he might keep his intern busy tracking them.
Sean: Only a warped mind could maintain that climate change is a hoax. But of course Trump doesn't think much of science.
DeleteSame thing is happening here in Nevada. We get our water from Lake Mead and the lake is at it's lowest level ever. So we have been in a drought for years.
ReplyDeleteMary: And I see Lake Mead provides drinking water to around 25 million people, so if it dried out it would be a serious crisis.
DeleteCompletely off-topic - I came across this this morning and thought you would be interested:-
ReplyDeletehttps://spitalfieldslife.com/2026/08/01/the-antiquarian-bookshops-of-old-london-iii/
It was strange because I'd just been reading an article about how millions of old and rare books are being scanned by AI and then destroyed - yes, even the rare books. They have to destroy them for legal reasons - how crazy is that? I thought you'd like to do a future post about it as it's right up your street.
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Ms Scarlet: Yes, there are more of these antiquarian bookshops than you think. I remember the ones in Cecil Court from when I worked at Watkins Bookshop. It's scandalous that rare books are being casually destroyed in the name of AI and legal niceties. I might well do a post on all this. Thanks for giving me the link.
DeleteBefore replying, Nick, I checked if the state of New Hampshire is in a drought and found that 25% of the site is under active drought conditions with restrictions. The city that I reside in does not currently have any restrictions, but then we do not have a yard to water and we do not wash our vehicles here but go to a car wash at least once a month. I have also read that using a DW actually uses less water than doing dishes by hand.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: Watering a yard or garden uses a lot of water and is best avoided until the spell of dry weather is over. We always do the washing up by hand but we use as little water as possible.
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