Az osztrákok nem a vizünket tartják vissza, hanem a hordalékunkat

The Duna at Budapest recently registered a water level of just 28 centimeters—lower than the previous record of 27 centimeters set in 2018, and at one point it even dipped to minus 28 centimeters. This is not a normal fluctuation. The difference between the river’s highest flood and its lowest level now exceeds 10 meters. As environmental researcher Buda Zoltán explains, the Danube has always been an extreme river, but the extremes are becoming more frequent, more severe, and longer-lasting. And we are only at the beginning of the low-water season.

Why the water is low—and what is really being held back

The immediate cause is a severe, continent-wide drought. As of the recording, 72 European rivers were experiencing critically low water levels or outright drought. This is not a local Hungarian problem. The underlying driver is a shift in atmospheric circulation patterns linked to climate change. The Arctic is warming much faster than the global average, which reduces the temperature contrast between polar and equatorial regions. This weakens the jet stream—the high-altitude river of air that previously steered weather systems from west to east in a predictable pattern. Now the jet stream becomes wavy and sluggish. Large anticyclones (so-called "heat domes") can park over Europe for weeks, deflecting rain-bearing Atlantic cyclones north toward Scandinavia. Hungary, already