Drought reveals submerged villages and shipwrecks

Drought

Climate change is becoming increasingly tangible, transforming the landscapes of Europe in an increasingly unpredictable manner. This year’s drought, affecting regions from the Danube to Greece, has revealed not only historical shipwrecks and long-flooded villages but also the scale of the water crisis these countries are facing. It’s a clear sign that global warming is not a distant future but is happening here and now.

Drought in Europe drastically lowers river water levels

The persistent summer drought has led to a significant reduction in water levels in European rivers. In Budapest, the level of the Danube dropped to 1.17 m, which is only slightly higher than the record low level of 0.4 m, recorded in 2018. In Serbia, near Prahovo, the drought revealed the remains of ships sunk by German troops during World War II. These wrecks, resting on the bottom of the Danube, may hinder navigation if the water level continues to drop. A similar situation occurred in Hungary, in Mohacs, where four sunken ships from the 1950s were exposed above the water level because the water level was only 1.5 m.

The village of Kallio emerges from the water

In Greece, the drought revealed something else – the ruins of the long-forgotten village of Kallio, which was flooded in 1980 during the construction of the artificial Mornos reservoir, which was supposed to supply Athens with water. The residents of Kallio were relocated, and the water covered about 80 buildings, including an evangelical church and a rural elementary school. After an exceptionally warm, virtually snowless winter and a summer with minimal precipitation, the water level dropped to the lowest in decades, exposing brick foundations and abandoned houses.

The surface area of the Mornos reservoir decreased from 16.8 km² in 2022 to just 12 km² in 2024, which is one of many signals that Greece is facing increasingly severe effects of global warming. The emerging village of Kallio is not the only such case in Europe. In Spain, due to prolonged drought, the ruins of the Galician village of Aceredo, flooded in 1992, were exposed.

In the Catalonia region, thanks to the lowering of the water level, the 11th-century church of Sant Romà de Sau can now be admired. This church was submerged in the 1960s in connection with the construction of a nearby dam. For many years, only the tip of the tower of this church was visible from the waters of the reservoir, but now the entire structure is visible on the surface.

Wodne Sprawy 42 2024 Susza odslania wioski
photo: Par Manel.pablo — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikipedia

Droughts reveal history but also a future threatened by water shortage

Climate change is already significantly affecting the lives of millions of people, and the droughts that have been affecting Europe in recent years are a direct result of global warming. Warmer winters, lack of snow, and prolonged heat waves lead to the drying up of rivers and lakes, which once were key water resources for local communities.

Greece, with its dry, Mediterranean climate, is particularly vulnerable to these changes, experiencing not only a lack of water but also forest fires, which in recent years have repeatedly threatened popular islands and even the suburbs of Athens. All this points to deepening problems that could become even more severe in the future. The effects of global warming are also perfectly illustrated by the water level in the Danube. The exposure of shipwrecks is just a symbol of how the river is changing. Similar problems are also appearing in Poland. As reported by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, on September 6, the water level in the Vistula River dropped to record low values, as we wrote in the article Record low water level in the Vistula. Drought in Poland is a fact.

Scientists emphasize that extreme weather phenomena, such as droughts, heatwaves, or floods, will occur more frequently. Global warming leads to climate destabilization, and its effects will be felt in every corner of the world – from glacier-covered mountains to lowland plains.


Main photo: makasanaphoto/depositphotos, the exposed ruins of the Galician village Aceredo.

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