Much of Europe is experiencing severe disruptions to major waterways, including the Rhine, Danube, Rhone, and Garonne Rivers, in Germany and France. The historic drought much of Europe is suffering through has reduced water levels and river flows to the point where the transport of coal, diesel, and other goods is in danger of being halted. Rivers in France have warmed to the point where the water is ineffective at cooling nuclear reactors.
As the climate crisis intensifies, it will only get worse. Europe’s main river systems are fed in part by Alpine glaciers. In the spring and summer, the runoff augments rainfall, but the ice flows are shrinking. The Alpine region has seen 2 degrees of warming since the second half of the 19th century, about double the global average, according to the European Environment Agency.
The conditions that have dried up Europe’s rivers are part of a long-running trend rather than a few bad months, according to Silje Eriksen Holmen, a hydrologist at Volue. Right now, the soil is so parched that most rain would be absorbed. Only when that’s been replenished will it start to flow into rivers, she said.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/europe-rivers-running-dry-disrupting-040133674.html