Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers. Water levels in the Danube River, a vital artery for Europe, have plunged to such depths that remnants of sunken World War II German warships are now visible to onlookers. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, conditions that have fueled the punishing heat, wildfires, and drought that are putting enormous pressure on the European economy and power supply. In Europe and beyond, many systems and infrastructure simply weren’t built for a rapidly warming world, with big economic implications. Water levels in the Rhine plummeted to their lowest levels since 1880 in August, spiking transportation costs and forcing cargo vessels to carry just a fraction of their standard loads, or transition to smaller vessels.