this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/16572873

The southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have been inundated, causing dam bursts and prompting dramatic rescues. States of emergency have been declared in several areas with more heavy rain expected.

Archived version: https://archive.ph/bF7J7

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

Wasn't I just reading articles about how awful drought was afflicting Germany?

What are the watersheds in the affected area?

Looks like the water that falls in Munich ultimately winds up in the Danube.

The water that falls in Stuttgart ultimately winds up in the Rhine.

kagis

https://www.icpdr.org/tasks-topics/topics/droughts/severe-droughts-danube-river-basin

Severe Droughts in the Danube River Basin

18 August 2022

As the climate crisis worsens, severe droughts devastate European landscapes. According to the data published by the European Drought Observatory, more than 60% of land in the European Union and United Kingdom – an area nearly the same size as India (!) – is now affected by drought conditions. The Danube River Basin and the Danube itself have been affected by serious droughts in the past, e.g., in 2003, 2015, and now again one of the most feared natural phenomenon has gripped much of the Danube River Basin.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62519683

Drought hits Germany's Rhine River: 'We have 30cm of water left'

12 August 2022

As Europe lives through a long, hot summer, one of the continent's major rivers is getting drier - posing major problems for the people and businesses that rely on it.

It's not unusual for water levels to drop here but, Captain Kimpel says, it's happening more frequently. "We used to have a lot of floods. Now we have a lot of low waters."

EDIT: That was 2022. What about 2021?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_European_floods

In July 2021, several European countries were affected by severe floods. Some were catastrophic, causing deaths and widespread damage. The floods started in the United Kingdom as flash floods causing some property damage and inconvenience. Later floods affected several river basins across Europe including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.[8] At least 243 people died in the floods, including 196 in Germany,[9] 43 in Belgium,[2] two in Romania,[3] one in Italy[4] and one in Austria.[5]

And that was the Rhine.

How about 2023?

https://www.euronews.com/2023/12/29/floods-in-europe-hungary-netherlands-and-lithuania-brace-themselves

High water levels in the Rhine and its tributaries have led to flooding this week in Germany and the Netherlands amid a spell of wet weather.

Rivers have been continuing to surge after several storms hit Germany in quick succession, leaving rainwater building up on already waterlogged landscapes.

I feel like there isn't a lot of middle room between "too much rain" and "too little rain" here.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Extreme drought makes the issue worse, when the surface is too dry it does not absorb water quickly, meaning you get more runoff. If feels counter intuitive, but it's true.

You might have noticed this when watering a completely dried out plant. The water stays on the surface of the soil longer.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Not quite correct, if I remember correctly dry soil adsorbs more water and quicker (by default) than waterlogged soil. But when is been dry for a long time a hydrophobic film forms, causing a temporary delay in water adsorption. I think it can impact flash flooding, but it washes off fairly quickly and then adsorption returns to expected.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

Yup, we are experiencing more extreme weather situations. Until 2022 it was unusually dry, now 2023 and 2024 had relatively more rain, sometimes in a very short timespan causing flooding.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

Yep, that’s what climate change brings us. Extreme weather fluctuations in a short amount of time. Just like it was predicted.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

At least in my area in NRW (west Germany) we've had pretty consistent rain over the last couple years. Haven't seen this much of it in way over a decade. I think the most affected drought regions were in the east though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

First it was dry, then wet :)