The Shadow
The Mississippi River has reached record low flow rates recently, negatively impacting commerce via barges that have experienced delays due to low water levels that have required dredging upstream from Memphis.
Second only in North America to the Hudson Bay drainage system, the Mississippi River has experienced historic low water levels despite the normal flows of its two main tributaries, the Ohio and the Missouri.
Scientists are blaming climate change for historic low water levels of a number of rivers around Planet Earth, rivers such as the Yangtze in China and the Rhine in Europe.
Adding to the low water levels in the Mississippi River are the numerous locks, levees, and dams that have been constructed over the years. Combined with less rainfall than usual, the low water level became critical, causing some barges to run aground and others to carry less cargo in order to prevent barges from running aground.
The result of carrying less cargo, running aground, facing delays while waiting for dredging, and commercial companies switching to other methods of delivery has contributed to inflated prices for consumer goods being delivered.
Consumers have had to pay more for goods due to the decreased size of the navigable channels that negatively impacted commerce on the Mississippi River, and the extended heat experienced earlier in the year led to a higher rate of evaporation.
The cause and effect impact has been less negative south of Memphis where more contributory rivers have enabled the Mississippi to flow at a near normal navigable volume on south to New Orleans.
Dams upstream in Turkey combined with lesser rainfall than in years past have combined to cause the Tigris and Euphrates to flow at very low levels that threaten to dry up the two Biblical significant rivers.
As an example of just how extreme the “flash drought” in the Midwest was earlier in the year, the “Mighty” Mississippi dropped 20 feet in less than three months.
In the West, the drought has negatively impacted the Colorado River, causing it and Lake Mead that it feeds to reach historic low water levels to match the severity of the low water levels that the Mississippi River is experiencing although recent rainfall in the Midwest and snow in the West may be halting the lowering of water levels.
The question remains, “How long will the rain and snow continue to improve conditions?”
The watershed of the Mississippi covers approximately 40 percent of the U.S.
An increase in snowfall and rainfall in the Mississippi’s watershed has the capability of reversing the lower water levels that are being caused in part by an increase in evaporation rate due to extended hotter temperatures.
