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DANUBE ADDED TO LIST OF MAJOR RIVERS IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING INCREASING NUMBER OF RIVERS, INCLUDING SOME OF CIVILIZATION'S MAJOR WATERWAYS, AT RISK OF 'EXTINCTION' 21 March 2007 How can a major river disappear? It is all too easy to thing this will never happen, that nature is in balance and will always find a way. But the reality is that nature replaced no-longer viable realities with others that can stand up to circumstance, and circumstance is stressing some major rivers beyond their capacity. The Danube is the latest to be added to a list of endangered rivers. Rising temperatures, which increase evaporation rates, increase drainage for irrigation, industrial and consumer purposes, and construction are causing the river to lose volume, and could reduce its flow to zero at the delta. This seemingly unlikely phenomenon has already occurred at the mouths of major rivers such as the Colorado in North America and the Nile in Egypt. Both China and India are facing major crises with their most vital rivers seeing their currents reduced to nearly nothing downstream, due to overpumping for irrigation and industry, as well as massive damming projects. In areas like the Nile basin, several nations have fought for years over control of the Nile's upstream flow, where Ethiopia claims a right to use the water passing through and Egypt complains that its water is being drained by its upstream neighbors. The Danube is the most vital river in Eastern Europe, and its shrinking or disappearance could lead to severe disturbances in local ecosystems, climate and crop-productivity. Rain patterns and forest cover would also likely suffer if the river's flow is severely reduced or lost altogether, meaning the European Union has an economic interest in ensuring that such a major river does not go dry from misuse or poor environmental policy. [s]
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