Relentless heat and a dearth of rain are having a punishing effect on some of Europe’s most vital rivers. The waterways have tumbled to record lows in places, in a crisis so severe it can be seen from space.
Stark satellite images reveal dramatically shrunken waterways weaving through parched landscapes. Low water levels have exposed vast stretches of riverbanks, as well as long sandbars usually hidden deep beneath the surface.
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Europe is the planet’s fastest-warming continent, and its summers are becoming ever more extreme as the human-caused climate crisis drives unprecedented high temperatures. Successive, brutal heat waves have sucked moisture from soils and waterways and continued drought has meant little relief.
The impacts are huge; Europe’s rivers are vital arteries transporting goods, cooling power plants, generating hydroelectric energy, drawing in tourists and providing a vital habitat for wildlife. As they shrink, people, economies and ecosystems are suffering.
Europe’s rivers frequently plunge to low levels in summertime — but this year they have reached unprecedented levels in places. Two of the continent’s most critical waterways, the Danube and the Rhine, have been particularly badly affected.
This CNN piece includes those comparative aerial photos of the river then versus now – green on one side and dusty brown on the other.