Record low levels on Europe’s biggest rivers have had such an impact on shipping, energy and tourism that there are real fears about the long-term economic impact of severe heatwaves on the continent.
This week, Germany’s Low-water Information System recorded extremely low levels at 43% of its measuring stations along the 765-mile Rhine, and at 59% of its measuring stations along the Danube, which runs through 10 countries from Germany to the Black Sea. On Friday, the navigable water depth at Kaub, a key chokepoint on the Rhine for shipments heading to southern Germany and Switzerland, dropped to a record low of 25cm. Extreme weather conditions are “leaving Europe’s waterways parched, triggering a series of compounding crises”, said The Guardian.
‘Feeling the pain’
Both Hungary and Romania have had to take special measures to protect nuclear power plants normally cooled by the Danube: Romania has blown up rocks to redirect water to its last working nuclear reactor; Hungary’s prime minister Péter Magyar has announced that the Paks plant, which supplies around half his country’s electricity, will have to close completely, perhaps for weeks. Warning of “an energy crisis situation”, he posted on X that “coordinated steps and restraint will be needed to avoid more severe consequences.”
“Much of mainland Europe is feeling the pain”, said Euractiv. Austria’s run-of-river hydropower plants are generating 30% less electricity than usual, while high river temperatures forced 11% of France’s nuclear-generating capacity offline in the hottest hours of Tuesday.
But “energy is not the only loser,” said Reuters. With water levels on the Rhine so low at key points, cargo ships can only carry 20% to 30% of their normal load without risk of grounding, pushing up freight costs as more vessels are needed to ship goods.
Current conditions on the Danube are “a pain for tourism”, said The Wall Street Journal. Last week, 186 passengers had to be rescued when the cruise liner hit a sandbank. Several cruise operators have had to cancel voyages altogether.
The dropping water levels have revealed some more enjoyable surprises, too, with Second World War German battleships, and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth, emerging into view.
‘Fingerprint of changing climate’
If the heatwave-related disruption does not abate soon, it could challenge the region’s “already stressed economy”, said the WSJ. A 10-month drought in 2018 wiped nearly 0.4% points off German GDP, according Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates. “The crucial unknown” right now is how long this drought will last.
“The heat dries the soil, empties the rivers and drives up demand for water all at once. That is the fingerprint of a changing climate,” Hannah Cloke, a professor of meteorology and climate science at the University of Reading, told CNN. It will “keep getting worse as long as we burn fossil fuels”.
Europe is experiencing the fastest warming of any continent, and the consequent heatwaves and drought have “exposed the need to reconsider business practices”, said Reuters. These river disruptions will be “a test of how quickly the region can adapt infrastructure built around 20th-century conditions” to a 21st-century climate where “extreme low water” is more likely to be the norm, said Bloomberg.