The heat wave is spreading with 37 departments now placed on heatwave alert. 18 million French people are concerned. VSThis rise in temperature also weighs on vegetation and wildlife.
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The risk of fire is high with this heat wave and the General Directorate of Civil Security recommends the greatest caution in wasteland areas, roadsides and agricultural fields, so as not to accidentally start fires because the ground is dry. In early June, the soil moisture index was the one normally recorded in mid-July. Trees and plants are suffering and concern is also rising on the side of farmers about the impact on crops. For cereals, the lack of water could reduce yields by 20 to 30%.
With global warming, we must change the composition of forests and crops. Scientists are working on it with different leads: for example, working on mixing trees in the forest so that water needs are staggered over time. Another avenue is to accelerate the natural migration of species, by planting trees further north that have genetically adapted to the south. On the agricultural side, researchers are also interested in the multiplication of varieties that tolerate dry soil better: durum wheat, sorghum, buckwheat and even quinoa. There is also work on the genetic adaptation of maize.
Irrigation techniques can finally play. Work by the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) has established that it would be possible to save 25 to 65% of water by improving equipment or controlling irrigation better.
Wildlife also suffers from these heat episodes. In India, in April some birds fell from the sky. Dehydrated birds that have been recovered from the ground by the hundreds. It must be said that in April the temperatures were around 50°C in India and Pakistan. We are not there yet but the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) has just published some recommendations to help wildlife. For example, she recommends leaving shallow bowls of water outside so that birds and even insects can quench their thirst. In some gardens this will also help hedgehogs or squirrels.
The reduction in the flow of rivers in certain places also threatens fish and aquatic fauna. According to the latest national hydrological bulletin, this reduction in flow is particularly marked in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, along the Loire as well as in the south of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region.