CNN
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A sticky situation is one that you can’t escape from. If the river is in the northern hemisphere, the paddle may not be of any help.
The US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are suffering from a severe lack of rain and unrelenting heat waves that are drying up their rivers. Many rivers are shrinking in both length and breadth. It is common to see riverbed patches sticking out above the water. Some rivers have become almost impassable due to their extreme desiccation.
Extreme weather is a result of the human-caused climate crisis. This is affecting not only rivers but also people who depend on them. The planet’s population depends on rivers in one way or another, for water, energy, and shipping goods.
See how six of them appear from space.
The Colorado River is drying out at its banks and thinning out as a drought in the US West continues. Two of the country’s largest reservoirs are crucially maintaining the river. To protect the river basin, the government has ordered mandatory water cuts and asked states for additional plans.
Slide right to view the Colorado River in July 2000. Slide left to view it in July 2022.
Lake Mead is one of those reservoirs that is shrinking as its water levels drop towards “dead pool” status. This refers to the point at which the reservoir will not be high enough for water to flow downstream through a dam. Since 2000, the lake’s water levels have been declining but have seen a sharper decline since 2020. The lake has fallen so low that wild discoveries, including human remains in a barrel, have been made. This is a possible victim of homicide from decades ago. The consequences of the Colorado River crisis have been devastating: Nearly 40 million people in seven US states and Mexico depend on the river for their water supply, including drinking water, electricity, and agriculture.
Slide right to view Lake Mead in the summer 2000, and slide left for the summer 2022.
The Yangtze River in Asia is now drying up at its banks, and its bed is beginning to emerge in some areas. It’s the Yangtze’s tributaries, however, that are already extremely dry. China has issued a nationwide drought alert, the first time it has done so in nine years. The heat wave is also its longest in six generations.
Slide right to view the Yangtze in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.
The drying Yangtze had a huge impact. Hydropower accounts for about 80% of the electricity generation in Sichuan, a province with 84 million inhabitants. Most of that power comes from the Yangtze River. As its flow slows down, it has caused power generation to drop, causing authorities in Sichuan to shut down all its factories for six days. According to state news agency Xinhua, the province is getting half the rainfall it normally receives and some reservoirs are dry up completely.
The Rhine flows from the Swiss Alps to Germany, then through Germany and the Netherlands before reaching the North Sea. Although it is a vital channel for European shipping, it is difficult to navigate right now.
Parts of the river’s riverbed have risen above the water’s surface. Ships trying to pass it must navigate around obstacles that slow down the process.
Slide right to view the Rhine in August 2021 and left to view it in August 2022.
There are many gauges on the Rhine, including in Kaub, west of Frankfurt, Germany. Here, water levels have dropped to 32 centimeters (12.6 inch) over the course of the journey. Shipping companies consider anything below 40cm on Rhine too low. In Kaub, a container ship with a load of less than 75cm must reduce its load to 30% according to Deutsche Bank economists. Shipping costs are also higher due to low water levels.
The River Po runs right across the tops of Italy and flows east into the Adriatic Sea. It is fed by snowfall in the Alps in winter and heavy rain in spring. The steep fall creates a rapid flow. This river is more vulnerable to floods than others.
Now, however, the Po is very different. The winter was dry in northern Italy so snow didn’t provide much water. Spring and summer were also dry, causing the worst drought the region has seen in seven decades. It is so dry that a World War II-era bomb was found among its shrinking waters.
Slide left to see the Po in August 2021 and slide right to view it in August 2022.
Millions of people depend on the Po for their livelihoods, mainly through agriculture. This is a big problem. It produces 30% of Italy’s food, and some of its most famous exports, such as Parmesan cheese are made here.
The Loire, France is home to some of the most famous wines in the world. The river runs for 600 miles and is France’s last wild river. It supports biodiverse ecosystems throughout its valley, which is protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Although some sections of the river are already quite shallow, its flow and levels can change quickly due to weather changes and melting snow. Some sections are so dry from extreme heat and lack of rain that it is possible to cross them by foot.
Slide right to view the Loire in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.
Satellite images taken from Saumur, France show that there is more riverbed than water in the Loire. The valley’s patches of land are mostly brown and wilted — they were lush and green a year ago. Authorities are releasing water from the dams into rivers to cool the four nuclear power stations that lie along it.
The Danube, the longest river in Western Europe, is a vital shipping channel that runs through 10 countries. Workers in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria are digging the river to make sure vessels can still navigate it.
Slide right to view the Danube in August 2021 and slide left in August 2022.
Although it’s not as bad as other European rivers, the effects of the Danube’s destruction are already being felt in countries like Hungary, which are heavily dependent on the river for their tourism. Some cruise ships were unable to cross the river to reach Hungary. Because of the many stations that have had to close due to falling river levels, those still running can’t stop along their normal routes. According to the country’s tourist board, an average 1,600-ton vessel is able to navigate the Hungarian stretch with no cargo.
This report was contributed by Julia Buckley, Angela Fritz, Laura He, Rachel Ramirez, and journalist Barbie Nadeau.
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