"Crumbling a fistful of sandy soil by his dried-up sunflower field, Thomas Goebel pointed to one of the many casualties of this year's drought: a bright green machine that resembles a tractor crossed with a biplane. The Gurkenflieger (cucumber plane) used to roll proudly through his fields with farmhands in the wings plucking vegetables to make salty-sweet-sour Spreewald gherkins. Goebel stopped using it for production five years ago his pickles could not compete with supermarket prices."
"Drought has cost Europe a staggering 11.2bn (9.8bn) a year over the last few decades, a study found earlier this summer, and losses are set to mount as fossil fuel pollution clogs the atmosphere. Annual drought losses in the EU, the UK, Norway and Switzerland are projected to rise to 13bn (11.3bn) if global heating reaches 2C (36F) above pre-industrial an optimistic outcome based on current policies and 17.5bn (15.3bn) if it hits a catastrophic 3C (37F)."
Thomas Goebel has stopped producing pickles and sold woodland to manage liquidity after drought reduced crop yields and undermined farm income. A specialty harvesting machine, the Gurkenflieger, moved from production use to tourist novelty as supermarket competition and low profitability squeezed margins. This year's hot, dry weather cut yields by 40-75% compared with the previous two decades in Goebel's fields. Across Europe, drought has already caused average annual losses of about €11.2bn and projected losses rise substantially if global heating reaches 2°C to 3°C, with the food system among the most vulnerable.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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