![]() The US Army Corps of Engineers is dredging near Stack Island and the Coast Guard intends to reopen the waterway with restrictions at some point Friday. The Mississippi River is currently closed near Stack Island, Mississippi, causing a backup of 117 vessels and 2,048 barges in the area as of midday Thursday, while a shutdown near Memphis, Tennessee has caused a smaller logjam, according to the Coast Guard. The drought caused rivers to dry up around the hemisphere, and caused particular harm in Western Europe, where summer crop yields plummeted. Drought in root-level soil this summer was roughly 20 times more likely north of the tropics, according to a report this week by World Weather Attribution, a scientific research group. The drying Mississippi is reminiscent of this summer’s transportation woes on the Rhine River - and both are functions of a Northern Hemisphere drought worsened considerably by climate change. In 2012, for instance, the Great Plains drought led to $35 billion in losses for the US, including closing the river at least three times. The dryness - and the low water levels it brings - imperils such commerce. Petroleum and imported steel also transit through sections of the waterway as does fertilizer traveling from New Orleans. The Mississippi River is the main artery for US crop exports, with covered barges full of grain floating to terminals along the Gulf of Mexico. Read more: Dwindling Mississippi grounds barges, threatens shipments It’s a key concern for transporting goods from a river basin that produces 92% of the nation’s agricultural exports, especially during harvest season. One shipping company said low water levels are causing severe impacts to navigation not seen since 1988. (Bloomberg) - The Mississippi River is a vital US waterway that ferries key commodities between the heart of America and the Gulf Coast - and drought is putting waterborne trade in jeopardy.ĭrought depleted river levels so much that in some spots vessels are getting stuck.
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