A painful lack of rain and relentless heat waves are drying up rivers in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East - see they look from above. 9News
Many are shrinking in length and breadth. Patches of riverbed poking out above the water are a common sight. Some rivers are so desiccated, they have become virtually impassable.
The human-caused climate crisis is fueling extreme weather across the globe, which isn't just impacting rivers, but also the people who rely on them. Most people on the planet depend on rivers in some way, whether for drinking water, to irrigate food, for energy or to ship goods.The Colorado River is drying up at its banks and thinning out, as a historic drought in the US West shows little sign of abating.
China has announced a nationwide drought alert for the first time in nine years, and its heat wave is its longest in six decades.The impact of the drying Yangtze has been enormous. In Sichuan, a province of 84 million people, hydropower makes up about 80 per cent of electricity capacity. Much of that comes from the Yangtze River, and as its flow slows down, power generation has dwindled, leaving authorities there to order all its factories shut for six days.
Parts of the river's bed have emerged above the water's surface, meaning the ships that do try to pass it must weave around a series of obstacles, slowing the entire process. This was taken in 2022.The Rhine River has many different gauges along the way, including in Kaub, just west of Frankfurt, Germany, where water levels have fallen to as low as 32 centimeters.
A big problem is that millions of people rely on the Po for their livelihood, mostly through agriculture. Around 30 per cent of Italy's food is produced along the Po, and some of the country's most famous exports, like Parmesan cheese, is made here.The Loire in France sustains a valley of vineyards that produce some of the world's most famous wines.
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The world's rivers are drying up from extreme weatherA painful lack of rain and relentless heat waves are drying up rivers in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East - see they look from above. 9News
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