The lake’s surface fell from 34.4 square kilometers in 2016 to 2.7 after a decade of lower rainfall, greater evaporation and irrigation withdrawals. The decline combines climate change and water management and persists despite a 2013 EU court ruling.
The June-to-August average reached 24C, 3.6C above normal, according to Meteo-France. The country recorded 53 heatwave days, nearly 40 per cent less rain than average, widespread fires and record ocean temperatures along its coastlines.
A two-year study compared seven landraces with three modern varieties across ten environments in Chile’s Metropolitan and Ñuble regions. Modern cultivars averaged more grain, while heritage wheats showed greater stability, biomass and intrinsic water-use efficiency.
Budapest’s Ínség-szikla emerged again after months of low rainfall and heat. IIASA modelling ranks July 2026 as the most extreme low-flow episode since 1990, affecting water supply, farming, energy, navigation and ecosystems.
PROMMRA's central scenario places operational filling around 15 December, with a conditional window from 24 November to 13 February. The signal rests on a large snow reserve but depends on actual melt, water deliveries and basin operations.
Sea-surface temperature averaged 20.96°C, delivering a second consecutive monthly record, Copernicus says. The tropical Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean concentrated anomalies, while July tied the second-highest global temperature at 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels.
The projected October–December peak would arrive at the end of the dry season, with low rivers, flammable vegetation and delayed rains. It raises drought and fire risks into early 2027, although intensity and local impacts are not yet determined.
The update cited by UOL assigns a 69% chance that the RONI index reaches at least +2.5°C in October–December. Pacific warming is real, but “super El Niño” is not a WMO operational category and no seasonal forecast determines local weather on its own.
The government called for conservation ahead of a possible drought as regions already endure power cuts of up to ten hours and intermittent water. Experts warn the climate phenomenon would be an aggravating factor, not the cause of a grid weakened by years of underinvestment and delayed maintenance.
The provincial legislature approved a law allowing the Water Institute and the Infrastructure Secretariat to take urgent action and use direct procurement. The measure seeks to protect supply, but it also triggered a debate over oversight, updated data and planning.
San Juan and parts of six other cities were placed under a schedule that shuts service for 48 hours at a time. July was the driest month in more than 120 years of records in the capital, while authorities acknowledge that infrastructure failures predating the drought are worsening the emergency.
Three fires on the outskirts of Washington state's second-largest city burned more than 8,000 acres and forced tens of thousands to leave. The August 3 toll remained provisional as crews searched for missing residents and fought blazes with no containment.