Europe’s Drought Exposes Ancient Stones, World War Two Ships as Waters Fall

Wreckage of a World War Two German warship is seen in the Danube in Prahovo, Serbia August 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Wreckage of a World War Two German warship is seen in the Danube in Prahovo, Serbia August 18, 2022. (Reuters)
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Europe’s Drought Exposes Ancient Stones, World War Two Ships as Waters Fall

Wreckage of a World War Two German warship is seen in the Danube in Prahovo, Serbia August 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Wreckage of a World War Two German warship is seen in the Danube in Prahovo, Serbia August 18, 2022. (Reuters)

Weeks of baking drought across Europe have seen water levels in rivers and lakes fall to levels few can remember, exposing long-submerged treasures - and some unwanted hazards.

In Spain, suffering its worst drought in decades, archaeologists have been delighted by the emergence of a prehistoric stone circle dubbed the "Spanish Stonehenge" that is usually covered by the waters of a dam.

Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, the stone circle currently sits fully exposed in one corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in the central province of Caceres, where authorities say the water level has dropped to 28% of capacity.

It was discovered by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1926, but the area was flooded in 1963 in a rural development project under Francisco Franco's dictatorship. Since then it has only become fully visible four times.

Memories of past droughts have also been rekindled in Germany by the reappearance of so-called "hunger stones" along the River Rhine. Many such stones have become visible along the banks of Germany's largest river in recent weeks.

Bearing dates and people's initials, their re-emergence is seen by some as a warning and reminder of the hardships people faced during former droughts. Dates visible on stones seen in Worms, south of Frankfurt, and Rheindorf, near Leverkusen, included 1947, 1959, 2003 and 2018.

Another of Europe's mighty rivers, the Danube, has fallen to one of its lowest levels in almost a century as a result of the drought, exposing the hulks of more than 20 German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.

The vessels were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, and still hamper river traffic during low water levels.

Italy has declared a state of emergency for areas around the River Po, and in late July a previously submerged 450-kg (1,000-pound) World War Two bomb was discovered in the low-running waters of the country's longest river.

Around 3,000 people living near the northern village of Borgo Virgilio, close to the city of Mantua, were evacuated while military experts defused and carried out a controlled explosion of the US-manufactured device earlier this month.



Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
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Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP

Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.

Researchers found "a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 percent below normal - the lowest in 23 years," the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.

"This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people," it said in its Snow Update Report.

The study also warned of "potential lower river flows, increased groundwater reliance, and heightened drought risk", AFP reported.

Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that "this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average".

Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.

The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop "improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation".

The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.

Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.

"Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas)," Gyamtsho said.

Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.