Record Breaking Drought Around the World Exposes Unbelievable Discoveries on the Dried Riverbed

Climate change caused by rising sea temperatures has led to record-breaking heat waves and large-scale droughts in many parts of the world. Under such circumstances, “exquisite objects” have emerged from the bottom of rivers and ponds in various regions where water levels have dropped which became viral in around the world.

In late August, the Danube River, which flows into the Black Sea from Germany through more than 10 countries, recorded its lowest water level in about 100 years. More than 20 former German warships that were sunk by the former Soviet Union during World War II appeared near Prahovo, eastern Serbia (see photo above). They are carrying a large number of explosives and their removal has been difficult.

The fourth photo shows San Roma Church, a church submerged in a reservoir in Catalonia, Spain. Normally only the second floor of the church floats above the water, but the severe drought has caused the church to become grounded.

The drought damage has been exacerbated in some aspects by the dry weather since last winter. In February of this year, in the Spanish-Portuguese border area, a village that disappeared underwater in ’92 due to dam development reappeared (3rd photo). The site has already become a tourist attraction, with many people walking on the cracked ground and gazing at the collapsed village.

Europe is not the only place where objects have appeared from the bottom of the water. At Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas, U.S.A., the 113-million-year-old footprints of an Acrocanthosaurus were identified for the first time in 12 years (fifth photo). The three-toed carnivorous dinosaur, called a theropod, was about 4.5 meters tall and weighed up to 7 tons. It is believed to have fed on a dinosaur called Sauroposeidon, whose footprints were discovered in the park.

In Chongqing, China, which has recorded a heat wave exceeding 40°C for more than a month in total, three Buddhist statues have been making headlines after emerging from the bottom of the Yangtze River for the first time in 100 years (second photo). According to local media, they are believed to have been made approximately 600 years ago, during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Will the drought continue? Akira Mori, a meteorologist, offers the following analysis.

“The La Niña phenomenon and rising sea surface temperatures in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans are causing the westerly winds to meander more than usual. This is causing extreme heat waves and droughts in many parts of the world. Since sea surface temperatures do not drop abruptly, I expect the trend of high temperatures to continue throughout September. The appearance of “ostentatious objects” is likely to continue.”

From the September 16, 2022 issue of FRIDAY