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.
Comparisons with 2023, when European river flows were generally around average, show just how diminished some of these key waterways are.
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.
