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Lost income, energy fears and a woolly mammoth: what Europe’s dried-up rivers have yielded

The Guardian Business Saturday 01 August 2026, 11:00 UTC By Deborah Cole in Berlin and agencies 1 min read
Key Points

Heat and drought have affected shipping, power plants and tourism across eastern Europe – as well as unearthing some surprisesBaking temperatures and drought across large swathes of central and eastern Europe have driven water levels on the Danube and Rhine rivers to record lows in some areas, hitting shipping, energy production and tourism hard. Extreme conditions aggravated by the climate emergency left Europe’s waterways from the Netherlands to the Black Sea parched, triggering...

Heat and drought have affected shipping, power plants and tourism across eastern Europe – as well as unearthing some surprises

Baking temperatures and drought across large swathes of central and eastern Europe have driven water levels on the Danube and Rhine rivers to record lows in some areas, hitting shipping, energy production and tourism hard.

Extreme conditions aggravated by the climate emergency left Europe’s waterways from the Netherlands to the Black Sea parched, triggering compounding crises.

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Europe (LOCATION) Danube (ORG) Rhine (ORG) Netherlands (LOCATION) the Black Sea (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Guardian Business Read original →

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