(by Michael Snyder | The End of the American Dream) – Do you believe in “coincidences”? There have always been droughts throughout human history. So if there were a couple of isolated droughts in 2022, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But that is not what we are dealing with.
Instead, right now the United States, Europe, Africa and China are experiencing droughts of epic proportions. As a result, crops are failing in key agricultural areas around the world. Of course, if just one country or region were experiencing a “historic drought,” the rest of the world’s agricultural production could make up for it. Unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing is truly unprecedented. For the first time in modern history, virtually every major economy across the planet has been simultaneously hit by extreme drought conditions, meaning global agricultural production will be well below expectations in 2022.
In this article, I would like to begin my discussion by taking a look at what is happening in China right now.
Thanks to the never-ending drought gripping the nation, the mighty Yangtze River has dropped to “the lowest for this time of year since records began in 1865”…
Wan Jinjun, a 62-year-old retiree who has swum the Yangtze River almost every day for the past decade in Wuhan, said he had never seen a drought like this before.
An extreme summer has hit Asia’s longest river, which runs some 3,900 miles (6,300 kilometers) through China and feeds farms that provide much of the country’s food and large hydroelectric plants, including the Three Gorges Dam , the largest power plant in the world. A year ago, the water reached almost as high as the bank where Wan swims. Now, the level is the lowest for this time of year since records began in 1865, exposing swathes of sand, rock and oozing brown mud that smells like rotting fish.
Rainfall along the Yangtze River is being reported to be 45 percent below normal levels, and this is extremely alarming.
Meanwhile, an absolutely monstrous heat wave has been scorching China for the past two months…
People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat. Hundreds of locations have reported temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) and many records have been broken. Metro stations have installed rest areas where people can recover from the heat.
On August 18, the temperature in Chongqing, Sichuan province, reached 45°C (113°F), the highest ever recorded in China outside the desert-dominated Xinjiang region. On August 20, the temperature in the city did not drop below 34.9 °C (94.8 °F), the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in China in August. The maximum temperature was 43.7 °C (110.7 °F).
This is hot!
In fact, scientists tell us that what China is currently experiencing is “the most severe heat wave” in recorded history…
It is China’s longest and hottest heat wave since national records began in 1961. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks extreme temperatures around the world, it is the hottest heat wave severe recorded everywhere.
“This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at once,” he says. “There is nothing in global climate history that is even remotely comparable to what is happening in China.”
In recent days, factories have been shut down in some areas of China as mandatory energy restrictions have been implemented.
Hopefully, relief will come soon because the Chinese desperately need it.
Meanwhile, Europe is suffering its worst drought in “at least 500 years”…
Europe is facing its worst drought in at least 500 years, with two-thirds of the continent on alert or warning, reducing shipping, electricity production and yields of certain crops, an agency said on Tuesday. of the European Union.
Earlier this month, I wrote an article about the crop losses Europe is now facing as a result of this drought.
And today we have even more bad news. According to Zero Hedge, maize production across the EU could be cut by around a fifth this year due to a lack of moisture…
In addition to the news of record electricity prices, a worrying new report on Europe’s upcoming harvest was released on Monday. According to Bloomberg, the Monitoring Agricultural Resources blog predicted corn yields could drop by nearly a fifth due to a devastating drought.
Before we dive into the crop report, Europe’s century-old ‘hunger stones’ were recently revealed in the Elbe River, which runs from the Czech mountains through Germany to the North Sea . The stones date back to a drought in 1616 and say: “Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine”. This translates to “if you see me, then cry”.
Unfortunately, conditions are even worse in East Africa.
Over the past year, an endless drought has killed at least seven million animals…
Seven million livestock in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have died since last September due to severe drought conditions, according to a recent report by the US Agency for International Development’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (USAID).
“The Washington Post” reported last year that carcasses of giraffes, goats, camels and groups of cattle were found in villages after starving to death in northern Kenya. These losses can be devastating for families, who as a result face food insecurity.
But have you seen any footage of these dead animals on the nightly news?
Of course not.
They’re not telling you what’s really going on out there.
Before I end this article, I want to give you an update on what is happening in the United States.
The worst megadrought in 1,200 years has iron gripped the western half of the country and is having a huge impact on agricultural production.
In fact, it is being reported that in some areas corn is under such stress that the plants are not even producing ears…
It’s been so dry in parts of Nebraska and South Dakota that corn plants are doing something really weird: They’re not producing ears.
The stems, which should be about 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall at this time of year, are wilted, golden and short; some are only about 5 feet. Crop scouts set out this week to analyze yields, and in some isolated patches they actually had trouble finding enough ears of corn to measure. Although not a widespread problem, the shocking development is an indicator of the harshness of the hot, dry climate. been
Everything I have shared in this article is not normal.
This is because we are entering times that will be very abnormal.
Every year, there are always parts of the world that struggle with food production.
But we’ve never seen it happen simultaneously in so many key areas around the planet.
Do you really think that what we are witnessing is just a “coincidence”?
If you’re willing to believe it, there’s a giant bridge on the west coast I’d like to sell you.
