words for the destruction," she said. billions will be needed to rebuild in germany alone. some towns are likely gone for good, though both climate scientists and the german chancellor warn extreme weather events are bound to return. "one flood isn't an example of climate change, "said merkel." but if we look at the recent events of the last years, decades, then they're simply more frequent than they were previously. so we must make an effort, a great effort." mother nature rearing her head, but climate change pushing her hand. now to make matters worse, many of these communities had been hit hard by covid. hotels, restaurants that had long been closed were only just getting back up on their feet. now many of them are washed away. >> and you may have noticed beyond the human toll, many cars were destroyed in those floods in germany.

well, their owners will have a very difficult time replacing them. a worldwide shortage of computer chips has made many models difficult to come by, and it's driving up the cost of both new and used cars.r has >>or lotooks ful dealers in walnut creeag sevaroni just a handful of the cars are new. your stock is not going fill this lot. >> it's not. >> reporter: which is amazing. >> it's definitely something we haven't seen before. >> reporter: inventories are depleted and demand outpaced supply in the second quarter this year. the primary cause? shortages of microchip, batteries and steel. so manufacturers are making fewer cars. through may this year, ford's output dropped by 325,000 cars. gm's went down 278,000. and stellantis, formally chrysler, dipped below 52,000.

and average car prices spiked more than $2,000, up over 7% from a year ago. suvs cost roughly $3800 more, up nearly 10%. >> dealers are not making the deals that they used to make. >> reporter: industry analyst todd turner. >> they're becoming order-takers. customers are going in. they're waiting for whatever car shows up and they're rushing in to get it before someone else does. >> a lot of them are basically preselling where customers are putting deposits on them before they even get here. >> reporter: were you surprised? >> yeah, i was. because we're thinking oh, we may just take this now. >> reporter: you're thinking i'll just buy this one. and they said what? no? >> they said no, this is the only one they have on the lot and there are 50 people that want to buy the car already. >> reporter: when will the shortage ease? analysts expect car buying to return to normal attend of this year, possibly early next year as more chips are produced and auto manufacturer can replenish $9.95 at my age? $9.95? no way.

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it's dry. there's no dry time. makes us wonder why we booked fifteen second ad slots. did you know diarrhea is often caused by bad bacteria in food? try pepto® diarrhea. its concentrated formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. see, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. so, make sure to have pepto® diarrhea on hand. the wildfire season in the west has gotten off to an early and devastating start, with scores of blazes raging across a dozen states. a record heatwave combined with years of dry conditions has turned the region into a tinderbox. in fact, scientists say we're in the middle of the worst mega drought in more than a thousand years. ben tracy has more on this story.

>> reporter: the american west was once seen as place of endless possibilities. grand vistas, bountiful resources, and cities that somehow grew out of deserts. now manifest destiny has become a manifest emergency. a scorching drought made worse by climate change is draining reservoirs at an alarming pace, fueling massive wildfires and deadly heatwaves. and withering one of the most important agricultural economies in the country. >> i'm really concerned. i'm really worried. >> reporter: joe del bosci has been growing melons and other crops in central california since 1985. >> these are melons right here, cantaloupe and honeydews. >> reporter: he has weathered droughts before, but nothing like this. >> water wheel. it's been watered efficiently. >> reporter: and this looks completely differently over here. >> this is a fallow field.

>> reporter: he showed us this fiofdirt. there is not enough water to plant a crop here this summer. how much of your land have you left unplanted this summer? >> about a third. >> reporter: a third? >> yes. that's significant. if that water doesn't get here, we will start to lose our crops. some of our crops will probably die. >> reporter: del bosci's water comes from the san luis reservoir which is just at 30% of its capacity. the state has now cut water deliveries to many of its farmers who supply much of the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables. del bosci paid for water he now can't get. i'm sure you talked to your neighbors. i'm sure you talk to farmers up and down the valley. what are people saying? >> a lot of them are worried and a lot of them are mad. if we have no water, we can't farm. if we get no water next year, these trees don't get water, they're going to die. >> reporter: this devastating drought is not confined to california. it's impacting nearly all of the west. the red and brown colors of this map are what the government

calls extreme and exceptional drought. >> this drought is really bad. it's one of the worst handful of years since the year 800 a.d. >> reporter: so that's really bad? >> yeah, it's really bad, in any context. >> reporter: park williams is a hydro climatologist at ucla. he says this is not just one long, hot, dry summer, but instead it's what scientists call a mega drought. >> this is really the 22nd year of a long drought that began in the year 2000. there are some rings that are thick and some rings that are thin. >> reporter: williams an his colleagues know this from studying the rings on trees which show how much they grow in any given year. >> the last 22 years actually rank as the driest 22-year period in at least 1200 years based on tree ring records. and so humans now are contending with a water limitation crisis in the west that modern society in this region has not yet had

to contend with. >> reporter: we've long known the limitations of the arid west. in the mid 1800s, the u.s. government sent geologist john wesley powell to survey the western u.s. water supply and bring back recommendations. >> he warned that the west did not have enough water for a really widespread population and we kind of bent the rules along the way when we started figuring out how to dam up the colorado river and divvy it up to the western states. >> the 7 t26-dam towering from e bed of the colorado is the eighth wonder of the world. >> reporter: hoover dam, an engineering marvel was thought to be a concrete solution. it harnessed the mighty colorado river and created nevada's lake mead, still the nation's largest reservoir. this water supply is what made western cities such as los angeles, phoenix, and las vegas possible and allowed us to

create some of the richest farm la land in the country. but the predicted water supply from the colorado river was based on 20 abnormally wet years at the beginning of the last century. now 40 million people in seven states depend on it. >> we did it. we've built it. we've become reliant on it. so we have to deal with what we have. >> reporter: pet mullroy is the form herd of the southern nevada water authority. we met her on the shores of lake mead, which has sunk to its lowest level ever. in the tweer 2000, the water came right up to the top of the dam. during the mega drought, the water has dropped more than 140 feet. >> so when it loses this much water, to me that is an enormous wake-up call. >> reporter: next month the federal government is expected to make an unprecedented decision, declaring a first ever sortage on the river, triggering cuts to the water supply in arizona and nevada that will cost some farmers 25%

of their water. and so without this, are places like phoenix and las vegas and los angeles possible? >> no, absolutely not. they're not possible. >> reporter: what the west needs more than anything is snow. snowpack in the mountains melts throughout the summer and flows into reservoirs. >> in the west, snow is like our battery. it's where we store water. >> reporter: j.t. reiger is a water scientist at nasa's jet propulsion laboratory. is this something that is caused by climate change or something just made worse by climate change? >> i think it's something definitely made worse by climate change. >> reporter: climate change is making the west hotter and dryer, which means more rain than snow is falling, and much of that is evaporating. >> over the long-term, what we're seeing with our satellite data is a picture of continual drying. >> reporter: a nasa satellite is documenting the loss of water stored in the mountains,

reservoirs, and underground aquifers. are we seeing that progression? >> that's exactly right. so these are some images we've taken from april 2010, 2015, and 2021, showing this steady drying progression of water in the west. >> reporter: given how severe this drought is and how long-term, how long would it take to recover from something like this? >> we would need a solid decade of really wet years, which is probably just not going to happen. >> reporter: joe del bosci has already let 70 of his farm workers go and isn't sure how long his farm will survive if the drought drags on. >> if you were starting all over, knowing what you know about this climate now, would you do this? >> i don't know. it was -- it was like a dream for me to be able to do this, because i was -- i was the son of farm workers. i have a lot of people that depend on me. there is hundreds of people working in the fields, picking melons that are people just like

my ancestors that came here, work hard to try to make a living for their kids so their kids go to college like

from time to time, we can all use some honest advice, right, from someone with a sympathetic ear. well, in one florida town, you can find just that on a bench near the beach. here is steve hartman "on the road." >> reporter: in st. petersburg, florida, when the sunrises, al nixon sets for his impromptu therapy sessions. >> how have you been? >> reporter: are you surprised what people tell you? >> not anymore. >> reporter: al isn't a trained therapy. >> i've been concerned. >> reporter: he actually works for the city department. >> he is just missing you. >> reporter: but in these early morning hours, he is a trusted confidante and counselor to whoever passes by -- >> and i wrote to him and i said -- >> reporter: renee is a regular. >> he knows everything about me.

>> reporter: did you feel weird sharing all your secrets to a by on the bench? >> no, because he'll never judge me and he always sets me straight. >> he is not judgmental. >> reporter: bernadette mills says she has never met a wiser man. >> he is like a guiding force. o >> reporter: at the same time, i don't see you talking a lot. i just see a loft nodding, like you do now. a lot of um-hmms. >> listening is the number one skill all mankind needs to know how to do very well. uh-huh. >> reporter: a still he has clearly mastered. >> um-hmm. >> reporter: when al started coming here seven years ago, the therapy was for him. he needed a quiet place to clear his head, and the last thing he wanted was to hear other people's problems. but then a woman he'd never met told him something he'll never forget. >> she said every day i see you, i know everything is going to be okay. and that made me realize that when you speak to someone or you

smile, you let them know i value you. and people pick that up. >> when i walk by sometimes, i don't even get a chance to chat with him because there are other pele waiti in line >> reporter: in appreciation for always being there, not long ago, al's faithful put a plaque on his bench, "to a loving and loyal friend and a confidante to many". >> i teared up. >> how can a simple plaque be powerful? they gave you back what you gave them. >> repor>> reporter: everyone n al, even al. >> h a great day. >> you too. >> reporter: steve hartman, on the road in st. petersburg, florida. >> and that is the "overnight news" for this tuesday for some of you, the news continues. be sure t tune in for our er a special report "launch into

space." that begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm errol barnett. it's it's tuesday, july 20th, 2021, this is the "cbs morning news." children and masks. the nation's top pediatricians offer updated guidance for students as the delta variant fuels new covid cases in all 50 states. ready for blastoff. amazon founder jeff bezos and three others are set to launch into space this morning. how they're preparing for the historic flight. new wildfire challenge. as fire crews take on the nation's largest fire in southern oregon, there's a new threat that could exhaust resources even more. well, good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green.