🚨 EUROPE’S INDUSTRIAL ARTERY IS DRYING UP
The Rhine — the busiest commercial river on Earth — is now barely 3 feet deep.
When it hits 2.6 feet, German factories shut down.
And it's already there.
Here’s why this matters a lot more than you think 🧵
The Rhine — the busiest commercial river on Earth — is now barely 3 feet deep.
When it hits 2.6 feet, German factories shut down.
And it's already there.
Here’s why this matters a lot more than you think 🧵
2/ Over 220 million U.S. tons of goods move by barge on the Rhine every year — oil, coal, steel, chemicals, car parts.
One barge = 150 trucks.
When the water’s too low, shipping halts.
You can't just “switch to rail.”
There’s no backup plan.
One barge = 150 trucks.
When the water’s too low, shipping halts.
You can't just “switch to rail.”
There’s no backup plan.
3/ We’ve seen this play before:
📉 2018: Water fell too low.
📉 Shipping stopped.
📉 Germany’s GDP shrank 0.4%.
📉 Factory output plunged 1.5%.
2022 nearly repeated it.
And 2024 is already worse — in spring.
📉 2018: Water fell too low.
📉 Shipping stopped.
📉 Germany’s GDP shrank 0.4%.
📉 Factory output plunged 1.5%.
2022 nearly repeated it.
And 2024 is already worse — in spring.
4/ Why is this happening more?
Not climate — bad policy:
🔻 Barges are getting deeper
🔻 Supply chains are tighter
🔻 EU refuses to dredge or build reservoirs
🔻 Greens block fixes to “protect the scenery”
It’s ideology over people.
Not climate — bad policy:
🔻 Barges are getting deeper
🔻 Supply chains are tighter
🔻 EU refuses to dredge or build reservoirs
🔻 Greens block fixes to “protect the scenery”
It’s ideology over people.
• • •
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