Suivez les derniers développements de l'actualité en Europe et dans le monde. Retrouvez les dernières infos sur la politique, l'économie, la culture et le divertissement.
00:00Climate Now, in collaboration with Copernicus.
00:13Hello and welcome to Climate Now, our unique monthly update on what's really happening to our planet.
00:20Coming up in the programme, we're here on the River Rhine in Germany,
00:24where low water levels are putting transport firms under pressure.
00:28I think a lot of people are aware that this is going to increase due to climate change.
00:34That we'll have variations of high water, low water, high water and low water, and we have to react accordingly.
00:43First, the latest data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service,
00:47which shows that here in Europe, this August was by far the warmest on record.
00:52Temperatures last month were 1.7 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average.
00:59And that is almost a degree higher than the previous record for August back in another warm year, 2018.
01:06Now, overall, we had a very hot summer here in Europe, and let's have a look back in time to see how it compares.
01:12This graphic shows temperature anomalies for June, July and August combined since 1979.
01:18And you can see the warming trend with the summer of 2022 rising up at the end 1.3 degrees Celsius above average.
01:27Now, let's switch over to look at the combined temperature anomalies for June, July and August on a global scale.
01:34You can see it was a warmer than average summer across many areas of the Northern Hemisphere.
01:40And then, highlighted in blue, is Pakistan, which was cooler as it experienced heavy rains leading to devastating floods that claimed 1,400 lives.
01:52Now, to our report from the River Rhine in Germany, where this year's record dry weather left water levels so low
02:00that many barges could only carry a quarter of their usual load.
02:03The crisis has left the river transport sector rushing to adapt, and I went to meet them.
02:10Barges on the River Rhine continue to carry lighter loads as the water level remains low.
02:16Supply chains are severely disrupted.
02:19Today, there are no container ships expected here at the port of Koblenz.
02:23For manager Arndt Pudebach, it's a frustrating time.
02:26Water levels are already a concern for us, and that's a very unsatisfactory situation because the demand is there.
02:37But unfortunately, we can't offer the capacity to our customers and offer the service that we would like to offer.
02:43The solution they can offer is what's called a land bridge, transporting goods and raw materials by rail or road for certain segments of their journey are put down the Rhine.
02:57This company is looking ahead, too, by commissioning new electrified vessels that can navigate shallower water.
03:03Of course, we'll adapt the ships we're building, so by default they can also carry more tonnage, even with a lower water level.
03:13That's an extremely important point in order to have the ships well utilised when there's little water in the Rhine.
03:19The Rhine dropped below average early this year because a warm, dry spring meant meltwater from the Alps came and went swiftly.
03:30It means that the water here at Kob, one of the shallowest sections, could remain low this autumn, according to scientist N.O. Nielsen.
03:37We also have to remember that we are at the beginning of the low tide season.
03:42We are now at the beginning of September, and the low flow season here lasts until October, sometimes into November.
03:47Many adaptation plans are in place.
03:51The government will deepen the shallowest channels, and shipping companies now have sophisticated river forecasts to better manage logistics.
03:59But Nielsen still voices concerns over how extreme the situation could become.
04:04In future climate change conditions, we actually expect the low water situation to get worse if we don't engage in climate protection.
04:11It can be expressed in terms of intensity.
04:13That is, how low could the water level go down to, how little river discharge could we have, how little could the ships take on board, but also in terms of duration.
04:23That means we could be stuck in low water situations for weeks or months, and we have to adapt.
04:29How do we react in such situations?
04:31That's all we have time for.
04:38You can read more about why the Rhine is so low and see projections for the future on our website, euronews.com slash climate now.
04:46And I'll see you next time.
04:54Climate Now, in collaboration with Copernicus.
04:57Climate Now, in collaboration with Copernicus.
