The heat records and dryness in Europe have somewhat dropped out of the headlines since this summer. Yet they are just es visible now in October as they were in August and September.
Here are a few examples from the Neckar, within walking distance of my apartment.
On September 6, pier of the boating club Mannheimer Ruderverein Amicitia von 1876:
The pier was no longer connected to the Neckar at this time. A temporary pier had had to be erected further in the river. I had never seen the water in the Neckar this low.
Normally one can row the boat directly from the pier, as shown on the website of the club.
The same place on October 4:
The water level is even lower than in September. The two islands on the left and right are connected to the river bank and can be reached without getting one’s feet wet. The few rainfall events that occurred since the beginning of September were clearly unable to compensate for the evaporation due to high temperatures, and have at most restored a bit of moisture to the soils.
Directly opposite at the pier of the boating club Mannheimer Rudergesellschaft Baden von 1880. Never before October 4 of this year did I observe this mudflat having emerged out of the water.
Neckar directly downstream from the Kurpfalzbrücke (bridge) in Mannheim:
August 31, 2026 September 1, 2026 September 8, 2026
At the end of August, a submerged bicycle became visible at a shallow part of the Neckar. On September 1, a part of the handlebar broke through the surface. A week later, there was already a little island there. Water fowl seem to love the place. But I had never seen dry land here!
Now, in early October, the island is still there – only the bicycle has been removed.
On this picture, the location relative to the bridge and the river bank can be seen:
On land, in the part of the city known as Neckarstadt West and next to the same bridge, the drought is just as extreme:
My conclusion: the drought has not relented. Every additional day when this situation remains unchanged signifies an intensification of the drought, which is very obviously being promoted by human made climate change. Anybody who denies this truth puts their head in the sand.
