European Rivers Drying Up from Climate Change

European rivers are at their lowest levels in over 500 years. Find out why this is a problem for the global economy and for ecosystems throughout Europe.

I live in a part of Canada called The Headwaters. It’s the high country roughly in the centre of the Great Lakes Basin in Southern Ontario.

This region is the source of four major Ontario rivers. These are the Credit, the Grand, the Humber and the Nottawasaga.

Settlers moved into our province from the Great Lakes inward. So most of the area’s towns and cities are situated along these four rivers.

Rivers Were Only Real Highways in 19th Century

This includes Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Kitchener, Waterloo and Brantford along with countless smaller communities. These rivers were the only real highways in our province when my ancestors arrived here in the 19th century.

European rivers have a similar tradition. For example, the Danube once marked the edge of the Roman Empire and the Rhine is the traditional border between France and Germany.

Transportation along European rivers contributes $80 billion to the EU economy…