Heat and drought put Europe's prized white truffles on edge

Months of punishing heat and drought have Europe's white truffle crowd on edge. The prized fungus needs cool, damp soil to do its thing, according to the Associated Press, and this year's weather hasn't delivered. That combination has raised real questions about what the future holds for the delicacy.

White truffles aren't like crops you can just water back to health. They lean on a finicky, slow-developing bond with tree roots, and that bond performs best in cool, moist conditions. Take away the moisture and the heat, and the whole setup gets strained, AP reports.

The worry isn't confined to one stretch of forest. Problems have cropped up across Europe's truffle-producing regions, per AP — a signal that this goes beyond any single patch of woods or one unlucky local. When trouble shows up that widely, it points to something bigger at play.

For now, the story is about a delicacy under pressure from a changing climate, with the coming seasons shaping what happens next. AP's reporting makes clear the concern is spread across the continent's truffle heartlands, not isolated to one spot.