Extreme Weather Is Drying up Europe’s Rivers in a Crisis so Dire It Can Be Seen From Space
- On Friday, the navigable water depth at Kaub, a key chokepoint on the Rhine, dropped to a record low of 25cm as rivers across Europe shrink under extreme heat, disrupting shipping and power generation.
- Heatwaves and drought are leaving Europe's waterways parched, triggering compounding crises that test how quickly the region can adapt infrastructure built around 20th-century conditions to a 21st-century climate, according to Bloomberg.
- Nuclear plants in Hungary, Romania, and France, along with hydropower facilities in Serbia, have reduced electricity generation due to insufficient water for cooling; along the Danube, shipping and cruise operations have faced significant cancellations.
- German GDP could dampen by up to 0.2 percent in the third quarter, with value-added losses estimated at 1 to 2 billion euros , Stefan Kooths of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy warned.
- Europe is experiencing the fastest warming of any continent, and the consequent heatwaves have exposed the need to reconsider business practices; experts warn conditions will keep worsening as long as fossil fuels are burned, challenging the region's already stressed economy.
63 Articles
63 Articles
What was previously green is now brown and withered. How much the climate crisis hits Europe has rarely become as visible as this summer. The before-after comparison with satellite images.
Extreme weather is drying up Europe’s rivers in a crisis so dire it can be seen from space
Relentless heat and a dearth of rain is having a punishing effect on some of Europe’s most vital rivers, which have tumbled to record lows in place, threatening energy production, shipping and tourism.
European forests are losing more biomass than was thought, with disturbances such as droughts and pests causing increasing losses in some of the continent's oldest wooded areas, a situation that has worsened by 46% since 2018. That is the conclusion of a study published this Wednesday in the journal "Nature Geoscience". Research, supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), reveals that biomass losses increased considerably after 2018, as droug…
Slovenia is facing extremely dry conditions. The water levels of most rivers are low and continuing to decline, and many watercourses have flows that are well below normal for this time of year. With the heat wave continuing and the lack of precipitation, meteorologists warn that the situation will worsen in the coming days.
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