The main river in Europe is drying up and threatening the economy – The Economic Journal



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After a prolonged summer drought, an intense river traffic on the river Rhine – a 1,233 kilometer long water course that crosses Europe from south to north and flows into the North Sea after being born in the Alps in eastern Switzerland – he was unemployed for a month at the end of last year.

The impact of the arrest, according to Bloomberg, directly hit German industry and slowed economic growth in the region during the third and fourth quarters of 2018. It was the last sign of as well as advanced industrial economies could be compared to the effects of global warming.

Kevin Kilps, owner of a boat, told the news agency that "water levels are falling every year". To try to solve the problem, Kilps added an extra floatation equipment to the 150-tonne ship in an attempt to increase the waterline and run the boat.

But the shipowners know that they are at the limit of their operability. If conditions continue to worsen, it is possible that the Rhine will lose its ability to navigate, compromising all the intra-European connections that have been made for thousands of years, connecting Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Rhine pours into the North Sea in Rotterdam – one of the largest if not the largest port of Europe – which places the maritime "road" at the top of some of the largest industries on its shores. Daimler, Bosch and Bayer are just three of the German giants that have on the Rhine one of their main product disposal routes and therefore to fuel exports.

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