EXTREMES OF SKY AND EARTH
Turmoil on Earth means turmoil in the heavens, or so the ancients believed. We have a fair share of turmoil down here – strikes in Germany, riots in France, war in Ukraine – and we’ve had our fair share of strangeness above our heads in the last few months. At the end of February, green and red northern lights flickered over Brandenburg in Northern Germany and Saharan sand rained down on first Spain, then Bavaria, southern Germany, around 22 February. The earthquake in Turkey and Syria was said to have been accompanied by earthquake lights, although no particular description or further information was given. morgenpost.de, 27 Feb; allgaeuerzeitung.de, 23 Feb; daswetter.com, 8 Feb 2023.
Drought saw rivers completely dry out in France, such as the Issole in the DépartementVar, and whole reservoirs in the Pyrenees were reduced to only 20 per cent of their usual volume, while inVenice, some of the minor canals dried up due to atmospheric pressure and the water level of Lake Garda sank until
