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Area of the Rhine River, untouched by man.

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The Rhine River is one of Europe's largest and oldest rivers and is known as the "great artery feeding the heart of Europe". Starting high in the Swiss Alps the Rhine travels over 1,200 km, through six countries, and ends at the North Sea. This river serves as a life and energy source for many creatures (both human and wildlife) through its journey.

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The Rhine River flows in a northward direction from the Alps in Switzerland through five other countries before turning west into the North Sea. Beginning the journey as solid ice as a glacier feeding into Lake Toma, to mountain streams, to the main Rhine River, to lakes such as Lake Constance, into the North Sea, this transboundary watershed is one of Earth's natural wonders.

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Along with the Rhine River being beautiful in of itself, the Rhine is also responsible for some of the magical natural environments of Europe. The Rhine Valley is an alpine glacier valley which the Rhine runs through, untouched by man. The Rhine Falls is located in Switzerland and is the most powerful waterfall in Europe. The Rhine Canyon which was created by a rockslide almost 10,000 years ago and over thousands of years the anterior Rhine edged a 400-meter-deep channel into the rocks, creating this beautiful and rare canyon.

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Well by now we know that the Rhine River is a huge watershed, so how much water actually flows through here? Although we cannot determine the exact amount flowing through the Rhine at all times, we do know that the mouth of the river dumps 17,000 bathtubs of freshwater into the North Sea every second!

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Early Romans used the Rhine River to carry goods and armies for military campaigns. The Greeks took wine drinking to southern France and the Romans advanced it through the Rhine. When the first bridge was built across the Rhine (sometime in Julius Cesar era), there was more of a focus on wine rather than on a military highway.

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U.S. 89th Infantry crossing the Rhine in assault boats under German fire

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The Rhine River has historically divided countries and armies, leaving a challenging obstacle of conquering an area to crush the opposition and gain new territory in war. Hitler used the Rhine as a defensive tactic to prevent his enemies to gain control of the land of the East. In the final months of WWII allied troops needed to cross the Rhine and secure territory from German overtake. In March 1945, Operation Varsity took place and the allied troops secured victory and started the end of World War II. The Rhine River witnessed it all, if only water could talk.

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The overall health of the Rhine River is reliant upon the conditions of the glacial ice in the Swiss Alps, mountain/stream runoff, trade routes, river reconstruction, tourism, and industrial effects.

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The "Rhine" glacier is the direct source providing water to Lake Toma which feeds the mountain streams to create the Rhine River. However, this life source is slowly melting each year due to global warming.

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Ecosystem Services: Mountain stream runoff

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Ecosystem Services: Mountain stream runoff

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From Lake Toma to mountain runoff, the Rhine River is a major supplier of drinking and processed water for energy. The flow of the watercourse depends on the amount of precipitation and evaporation. If the precipitation falls as snow, it is stored as ice in glacier for long periods of time, thus building up the source of the Rhine.

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Ecosystem Services: Europe's leading trade route

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Ecosystem Services: Europe's leading trade route

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Like it was mentioned before, the Romans used the Rhine as a major transport and trade route and is still utilized in the same way today. Cheap water transport on the Rhine kept prices of raw materials down and turned it into the main points of industrial production in Europe. Coal and Iron ore are mined from river valleys and processed into steel.  Fact: 1/5 of the worlds chemical industries operate on the Rhine River.

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Ecosystem Services: First attempt at preventing Floods

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Ecosystem Services: First attempt at preventing Floods

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There is a reason this river is called the "Wild Rhine", constant flooding became an issue known since the 18th century. It is in this time that settlers in the area countered the problem of flood water with building a group of windmills on the outskirts of Rotterdam. The windmills served to pump flood water from the fields into small canals back into the Rhine River.

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Ecosystem Services: Straightening the Rhine

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Ecosystem Services: Straightening the Rhine

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The upper Rhine region was changed by a Rhine straightening program in the 19th century in attempt to prevent flood water problems. This also was an attempt to increase the flow of water to ease industrial transport and shipping.

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The Rhine is a leading tourist attraction. The raw history, medieval castles, and natural wonders that the Rhine has draws visitors from all over the world. But with tourism comes pollution, leading us to the dangers that the Rhine faces in the future.

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Cruise the Rhine River with AmaWaterways

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Threats: Chemical Disasters and Pollution

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Threats: Chemical Disasters and Pollution

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With the Rhine River being home to the main producers of industrial chemicals comes the hazards. In 1986, a chemical factory upstream from Rotterdam port exploded spewing toxic fertilizer and chemicals into the water and dangerous toxins in the atmosphere. This was known as the Sandoz Chemical Spill. The Rhine River turned red, and all the fish died. The port industry killed of the way of life that local fishermen have known. Although the government has made an effort to clean up the waters and the fish population is gradually increasing again, with more people comes more pollution. Until we are fully aware and make efforts to the damages done to the Rhine River, the overall health of the Rhine will not be the same.

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With climate change bringing warmer atmospheric temperatures, the source of glacial ice for the Rhine River is gradually decreasing. Along with glacial ice melt, the water levels of the Rhine River have severely decreased. Recently, in the summer of 2018, river barges were sending multiple distressed calls because the water in the Rhine River was so low that the ships were trapped. Precipitation levels are decreasing, the water level in the Rhine is decreasing, the wildlife of the Rhine is decreasing. We need to change something!

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The Rhine River provides important ecosystem services not only through Europe, but to the entire world. As atmospheric temperatures increase, precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow which means less snow storage in the Alps and the higher the probability of droughts and sudden flash floods. If the Rhine River water levels decrease there will be limited freshwater for surrounding residents, a lower energy production, and difficult situations for trade which lowers the economy. Warmer water temperatures will also change if not reduce the habitat for native wildlife species of the Rhine.

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Fish of the Rhine River. Is this ok or is it pollution?

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The Rhine River can remain stable if the amount of pollution and chemical disasters decrease. Implementing policies to safer alternatives to these problems with impact the Rhine River health. Also, if the Swiss Alps start receiving more snow and cold temperatures rather than precipitation, the source of the Rhine has a longer life in order to provide the water the river needs to survive. Addressing the issue of CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and taking action to fix these problems, will create a steppingstone to keep the Rhine River thriving.

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Climate change leaves the Rhine, Danube and Europe’s other commercial arteries in danger of running dry - The Globe and Mail
Rhine River | Location, Length, Map, & Facts | Britannica
Microsoft Word - Extended_Abstract_I_22_E.doc (chr-khr.org)
HESS - Estimates of future discharges of the river Rhine using two scenario methodologies: direct versus delta approach (copernicus.org)
Wild River Rhine | Free Documentary Nature - Bing video
The Rhine: A river born in the Swiss Mountains | The Rhine from above - Episode 1/5 - Bing video
Rhine: The Most Vital River In World War History | TRACKS - Bing video
1986: The Sandoz chemical spill - YouTube