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long drought continues in Europe amid extreme weather events around the world.
The German Rhine is so dry that it can be seen even from satellites, but it is difficult to carry cargo on a ship.
Correspondent Kwak Sang-eun of Paris reports.
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is the usual appearance of the Rhine River, which meanders with a green light.
But now, on both sides of the river, a wide earthen floor is exposed.
Another satellite image shows the bottom in spots in the middle of the river.
Heat waves and long droughts have dried up the Rhine, the largest river in Central Europe.
The Rhine water level, measured at the reference point Kauf, Germany, has dropped to 31 cm.
This means that the barge's normal operating water level is 1.5 m, and the minimum operating water level is 40 cm.
[Christian Lorenz / Logistics industry official: Originally, we loaded about 2,200 tons, but now we can only load about 600 tons.
The lower the river level, the lower the cargo volume.]
As the barges had no choice but to load less, the volume of cargo significantly decreased and the fares soared five times.
There are also concerns that the water level could drop further and barge shipments could be completely halted.
A loss of 5 billion euros is expected if the Rhine transport is suspended for six months.
The Loire River, France's longest riverbed, has been exposed and tour boats have been suspended.
[Bridget Depoir/Loire River locals: I am very concerned.
It's a global problem, not just the Loire River, so I'm more concerned.]
The flow of the Pogango in Italy has dropped to one-tenth of its usual level, and the same is true of the Thames, representing the UK.
It has been raining intermittently in major cities such as Paris and London this week, but this summer's drought has been so prolonged that it has not led to a full-scale sunset.
(Video coverage: Kim Si-nae, editing: Choi Eun-jin)