Water levels have fallen in major rivers across Europe as the region suffers a historic drought. In these dry riverbeds, centuries-old warning messages have appeared, locals report.
The “scary” boulders are known as “Hungersteine” or “Hunger Stones,” local German reporter Olaf Koens said in an Aug. 11 tweet.
One of those stones is embedded in the Elbe River, which stretches from the mountains of the Czech Republic through Germany to the North Sea, POLITICO reporter Aitor Hernández-Morales tweeted the same day.
The stone, dating from the drought of 1616, is again visible in the dry river bed, Hernández-Morales said. The warning reads, “Wenn du mich seehst, dann weine” – “If you see me, weep”.
“Hunger stones” like this one were used as “hydrological landmarks” across central Europe, NPR reported when the stones were last seen during a 2018 drought.
These stones are “chiseled with years of hardship and the initials of writers lost to history,” a team of Czech researchers wrote in a 2013 study. “The key inscriptions warn of the consequences of drought. He expressed that the drought had brought bad harvests, food shortages, high prices and hunger for the poor people. The stones are reminiscent of historic droughts, the researchers said.
The recent droughts in Europe have once again made the “Hunger Stones” visible in some rivers in the Czech Republic and Germany. These stones were used to mark desperately low river levels that would predict famines.
This one, on the river Elbe, is from 1616 and says: “If you see me, weep” pic.twitter.com/uJTapWXN5y
— Shoko Asahara Appreciation Consortium (@Citizen09372364) August 11, 2022
Europe’s current drought is certainly historic. Scientists at the European Drought Observatory said the drought is on track to be the worst in 500 years, Sky News reported.
According to the drought observatory, 47% of Europe is under drought warning conditions, meaning the soil is in a moisture deficit. Another 17% is on alert, meaning the area’s vegetation is affected by dry conditions.
Major rivers in Germany, Italy and England – the Rhine, the Po and the Thames, respectively – are drying up, DW reported. The agency said the rivers are “too dry, too low and too hot,” which has consequences for wildlife, the economy and people.
The water level in the Rhine River is about half the usual depth for this time of year, with some parts having even lower water levels, DW reported. That has made shipping on the river five times more expensive because cargo ships have to carry less weight to make sure they don’t run aground, Reuters reported.
In Italy, the prime minister said the country was experiencing “the most serious water crisis of the last 70 years”.
Boats lie on the dried lake bed in a harbor in Velence, Hungary, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. A massive drought is sweeping Europe, which is also affecting Hungary. According to the General Directorate of Water Management (OVF), the water level in Lake Velence, a popular tourist lake near Budapest, is at its lowest level ever recorded. (AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi) AP
The drought comes after months of high temperatures and little rainfall, the Washington Post reported. Human-induced climate change has also contributed to the “intensity, frequency and duration of heat events” and exacerbated droughts, the report said.
According to the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, “droughts have become our summer reality,” he tweeted.
Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and France struggle under drought, EuroNews and Sky News.
Conditions are not expected to improve anytime soon, with the European Drought Monitor telling Sky News that “we have assessed a worsening of the situation across most of Europe”.
This story was originally published on August 12, 2022 at 12:25 pm.
Aspen Pflughoeft covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a graduate of Minerva University where he studied communications, history and international politics. Previously, it was reported in the Deseret News.
