Rhine River

From the Danube to the Loire, Europe’s prime rivers — lifelines for the continent’s economy — are running low after a brutal five-month drought. After years of dry weather, scientists are warning that low-water conditions could become the norm in Europe as the climate changes.

Floods, droughts and major storms that wash out highways, damage buildings and affect power grids could cost Canada’s economy $139 billion over the next 30 years, a new climate−based analysis predicts.

Parts of the European Union could face three more months of warmer and drier conditions as Europe weathers a major drought that has fueled forest fires, dried up rivers and devastated crops, the 27−nation bloc’s Earth observation program is warning in a report.

Germany’s main industry lobby group warned on Tuesday, August 15, 2022, that factories may have to throttle production or halt it completely because plunging water levels on the Rhine River are making it harder to transport cargo.

Even record-setting temperatures can’t melt the continent’s reluctance to install cooling technology.

Once, a river ran through it. Now, white dust and thousands of dead fish cover the wide trench that winds amid rows of trees in France’s Burgundy region in what was the Tille River in the village of Lux.

Water levels on the Rhine River could reach a critically low point in the coming days, German officials said on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, making it increasingly difficult to transport goods — including coal and gasoline — as drought and an energy crisis grip Europe.

The impact of the COVID pandemic on the global supply chain has been widely reported. But extreme weather, from floods to wildfires, is increasingly hammering ports, highways, and factories worldwide, and experts warn these climate-induced disruptions will only get worse.