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Due to climate change in 2022, Europe was overtaken by an unusually dry half of the year, and in the summer by heat waves. This has led to the fact that the most important waterways are becoming increasingly shallow.
Meteorologists sound the alarm
For almost two summer months of 2022, no significant rain was recorded in Western, Central and Southern Europe. They are also not expected in the near future. This gives meteorologists a reason to argue that the drought of 2022 could be the worst on the continent in the last 500 years.
Andrea Toreti, Senior Research Fellow at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, says: “We can’t fully analyze this year because it hasn’t ended yet. At the same time, we can say that over the past 500 years there have been no events similar to the drought of 2018, and 2022 is even worse.” What’s more, he said, there is “a very high risk of dry conditions persisting” through the fall. All this has a detrimental effect on a number of industries.
Shipping in Germany
The German Federal Institute of Hydrology said that the level of the Rhine will continue to fall for at least a few weeks. Under such conditions, many shipping companies consider the use of barges unprofitable. Major carriers are already loading their vessels to only 25% of their capacity to reduce drawdown. This raises the cost of transporting goods by five times.
If cargo barges are unable to navigate the Rhine at all, it will hit the economies of Germany and Europe hard. Experts have calculated that a six-month suspension of traffic in 2018 cost about €5 billion. Although the EU has said that a 25% increase in water freight transport is one of the green transition priorities, Germany is now forced to redirect it to railways and roads.
Nuclear power in France
The main task of the rivers of France is the cooling of nuclear power plants, which create 70% of the electricity in the country. Strict regulations govern how much they can increase the temperature of the river when the water is released. With the looming energy crisis, the French nuclear regulator last week allowed five nuclear power plants to temporarily break the rules in an unprecedented manner.
Agriculture in Italy
In Italy, the Po (the country’s longest river) has slowed by 90% and the water level has fallen 2m below normal. As there has been no prolonged rainfall since last November, corn and risotto rice production in the river valley has been hit hard. The region accounts for 30% to 40% of Italy’s agricultural production. Experts warn that up to 60% of the harvest could be lost due to the drying up of rice fields and spoiling them with sea water, which is absorbed by the soil due to low Po levels.