Europe sees worse drought on record

In the midst of an arid summer that set heat records across the continent, its rivers are now evaporating

Water levels on the Rhine River could reach a critically low point in the coming days, German officials said on Wednesday, making it increasingly difficult to transport goods - including coal and gasoline - as drought and an energy crisis grip Europe.

Weeks of dry weather have turned several of Europe’s major waterways into trickles, posing a headache for German factories and power plants that rely on deliveries by ship and making an economic slowdown ever more likely. Transporting goods by inland waterways is more important in Germany than in many other Western European countries, according to Capital Economics.

“This is particularly the case for the Rhine, whose nautical bottleneck at Kaub has very low water levels but which remains navigable for ships with small drafts,” said Tim Alexandrin, a spokesman for Germany’s Transport Ministry.

Authorities predict that water levels at Kaub will dip below the mark of 40cm early on Friday and keep falling over the weekend. While this is still higher than the record low of 27cm seen in October 2018, many large ships could struggle to safely pass the river at that spot, located roughly midway along the Rhine between Koblenz and Mainz.

“The situation is quite dramatic, but not as dramatic yet as in 2018,” said Christian Lorenz, a spokesman for the German logistics company HGK.

Shrinking waterway

From France and Italy, Europe is struggling with dry spells, shrinking waterways and heat waves that are becoming more severe and frequent because of climate change.

Low water levels are another blow for industry in Germany, which is struggling with shrinking flows of natural gas that have sent prices surging.

Driest Iberian peninsula

A prolonged dry spell and extreme heat made July the hottest month in Spain since at least 1961. Spanish reservoirs are at just 40% of capacity on average in early August, well below the ten-year average of around 60%, official data shows.

“We are in a particularly dry year, a very difficult year that confirms what climate change scenarios have been highlighting,” energy minister Teresa Ribera told a news conference on Monday, also highlighting that the drought was leading to devastating wildfires.

Climate change has left parts of the Iberian peninsula at their driest in 1,200 years, and winter rains are expected to diminish further, a study published last month by the Nature Geoscience journal showed.

Due to its worst-ever drought, France has imposed water restrictions throughout almost the entire country. More than 100 municipalities now rely on drinking water supplied by truck.

In Italy’s Po valley - home to about 30% of the country’s agriculture production - torrid heat and exceptionally dry conditions have hurt corn and sunflower production and forced rice farmers to cut plantings after the river fell to its lowest level in 70 years. In its delta just south of Venice, the disruption to the natural flow is causing algae to decay and stealing the oxygen needed for clams and mussels to survive, according to farm association Coldiretti.

HGK and other shipping companies are preparing for a “new normal” in which low water levels become more common as global warming makes droughts more severe, sapping water along the length of the Rhine from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea.

“There’s no denying climate change and the industry is adjusting to it,” said Lorenz.