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  • Scoop Market Mysteries 8-28-22 (Heat & Drought)

Scoop Market Mysteries 8-28-22 (Heat & Drought)

🔎 Market Mysteries: Are droughts and extreme heat a threat to corporate profits?

 Market Mysteries of the week

   Are droughts and extreme heat a threat to corporate profits? 

Answer :

Global warming is not a problem of the future. Droughts and extreme weather events are

impacting operations today across a wide range of industries and will likely only get worse

.

How hot is it?

Deadly heat waves, accompanied by severe drought,

are devastating nearly every corner of the earth. The extreme weather has

ignited wildfires, dried up drinking reserves, stalled river traffic, limited hydropower capacity, and forced regions into an energy crisis.

Europe is having one of the hottest and driest summers of all time.

in a single week of extreme heat across Portugal and Spain this summer. England and Wales

. Britain has suffered

above 100 degrees (F), shuttering schools and offices and disrupting transportation. Wildfires raged outside London. France is in the midst of its

, devastating crops and drinking water reserves and sparking wildfires. The rivers are so warm that nuclear reactors, which supply

, can’t discharge water properly and have been forced to reduce activity. In Germany, the

, forcing the country to

while still in conflict with Russia. Droughts in Norway have created

, which supplies 90% of the country’s power. 

In Asia, it’s a similar story.

More than

in June due to a historic heat wave in Japan. China is experiencing many of the same issues, as more than 100 cities face consistent temperatures well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

has sparked rolling wildfires and forced the country into an energy crisis. Droughts have diminished hydropower capacity and limited coal transportation by river while air-conditioning energy demands soared, forcing cities into extended blackouts.

America is feeling it too

- and not just in traditionally scorching places like Arizona and Florida. A heat wave in the Pacific Northwest sent almost

. Three Oregon cities: Portland, Salem, and Eugene, experienced seven consecutive days of

above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Over

in July. The Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million Americans and feeds farmlands that provide food for most of the country, is

in the midst of a historic drought

. Lake Mead, the reservoir powering the Hoover Dam, is at 25% capacity.

Water scarcity is so severe 

that the federal government has

. Regional groundwater reserves are also depleting rapidly.

These are dire concerns. 

Will this continue?

Climate change has been increasing the severity and frequency of extreme heat and drought

, as

have shown

and

again. Since 1960, heat waves in the US have occurred

.

These severe heat events around the world are

. Scientists have pointed to human-influenced changes in the global jet stream that create more powerful and long-lasting heat pockets each time.

The US will increasingly suffer more prolonged stretches of extreme heat above 125 degrees

Fahrenheit. By 2050, over 100 million Americans,

, up from roughly 8 million today.

Again, it’s not just a heat problem but a drought issue as well. By 2030, global water demand

. The World Economic Forum has listed water crises among the

for the past seven years. The United Nations

and one in four children to live in areas with extreme water shortages by 2040.

, the international experts on climate change say

we need to act swiftly and decisively to mitigate even the worst outcomes.

Why are business leaders taking notice?

No one is immune to extreme heat.

Of all the natural disasters,

droughts are the deadliest.

In the last 50 years,

, which will get even higher. High temperatures have led to severe hospitalizations and deaths for

and

.

It’s not just the human capital risks.

Two-thirds of the largest 2,000 global corporations face significant water-related risks. By 2050,

. Failure to act could lead to dramatically increased costs or even halt operations.

The industry most at risk is agriculture.

and wastes about 60 percent of that. The Colorado River drought has put surrounding areas

. Experts worry much of the lands in California and Arizona, which provide vast amounts of fruits and vegetables for the nation,

will be unfarmable within the next few decades. 

It’s not just agriculture.

Nearly every industry relies on access to water

. The record-setting heatwave in Britain forced

, which need to be kept cool and require a lot of power. Water scarcity drives up costs for

that depend on water to remove impurities. Extreme heat has shuttered manufacturing facilities for

and

. Toyota has had to halt production across multiple countries this year due to

and

issues.

What do we do?

Individually,

we can all do our part by being more mindful of water usage and limiting our waste

. But really,

it’s about holding corporations accountable for their resource usage

. Corporations need to disclose their water usage and set targets for waste reduction. Last year,

to the Water Security Questionnaire from CDP, the leading global environmental disclosure organization.

Some companies are making progress

. Manufacturing companies like

have committed to reducing water use at their facilities and treating their wastewater. Companies like

and

have pledged to be water positive, replenishing more water to the environment than they use, by 2030.

Has your company set water waste reduction targets? Pressure your CEO to sign the

and commit to progress.

💙 The Share Scoops Team

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