Daily Mail reported that the abundance of spring flowers, such as daffodils, crocuses, and tulips could have fueled the summer droughts, according to new computer simulations.
The spring in 2018 was unusually warm and boosted flower growth, which depleted moisture from the soil just before the heatwave hit. The researchers said that this phenomenon has contributed to the summer drought, which caused crop failures, wildfires, and widespread drought in the UK and some parts of Europe.
Scientists believe that their study of the past heat wave and springtime vegetation growth could provide an early warning of a looming extra-hot summer, which is expected to happen this year.
2018 Drought in Europe
An international team of researchers, led by climatologist Ana Bastos and Julia Pongratz of Ludwig Maximilians University in Germany, said that the spring heatwave intensified the effects of the summer drought in 2018.
Phys.org reported that the incidence of summer heatwaves and periodic droughts are expected to rise, and the adaption of alternative land management strategies could offer ways to mitigate the effects of the droughts.
According to the previous report of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is estimated that there is a 75% chance that 2020 will be the hottest year in history.
The central and northern Europe were stricken by extreme drought and heat in 2018, said Dr. Bastos.
"It differed from previous events in being preceded by extreme spring warming and brightening, but moderate rainfall deficits, yet registering the fastest transition between wet winter conditions and extreme summer drought," she added.
Furthermore, Dr. Bastos said that "the differences in carbon and water exchanges during spring and summer 2018 suggest that strategies could affect the patterns of summer heatwaves and droughts under long-term warming."
For the last 20 years, Europe has endured droughts that threaten public health while affecting food supply, air pollution, and carbon dioxide uptake in the environment.
In 2018, England recorded its highest temperature at 17.2 degrees Celsius (63.0 degrees Fahrenheit), ahead of the legendary summer in 1976 with an average temperature of 17.0 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
But it was Cambridge Botanic Garden that has experienced the worst drought recorded at 38.7 degrees Celsius (101.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
Trees May Have Been Better Suited to Withstand Drought
According to NOAA, July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded globally after 140 years of record-keeping and brought Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to historic lows.
But many parts of Europe that are covered in forests have developed a higher capacity for water and carbon, which led to increased leaf growth. However, agriculture fields experienced reduced carbon dioxide uptake.
Dr. Bastos and her colleagues suggested that trees may have been better suited to withstand drought since their roots help them access deepwater reserves that the roost of crops and grasses cannot reach.
Moreover, she said that future land management might take advantage of more drought-resistant types of vegetation to lessen the impact of summer heatwaves.
"Our results stress the importance of spring climate conditions and of ecosystem dynamics in amplifying or dampening the summer carbon and water anomalies, which can potentially be useful to predict summer extremes in advance," Dr. Bastos said.
They have published their study in the journal Science Advances.
