You can't step into the same river twice, the philosopher Heraclitus said in a different context. If he were alive in the era of anthropogenic climate change, he might add that you may no longer even have that river to step into. And even if you do, you might not want to, because its fluids could scorch the skin off your feet. Just look at Germany this summer. Two of its most symbolic and iconic rivers — the Oder in the east and the Rhine in the west — are crying out in distress. The Oder, stretches of which mark the Polish-German border, has turned toxic. Dead fish are floating where bathers once swam. The immediate cause remains unclear — Germany and Poland are investigating chemical spills. But scientists say that drought invariably exacerbates the concentrations of nasty stuff and disrupts the water’s oxygen levels.

Kluth, A. (2022, August 19). From the Rhine to the Tigris, rivers are warnings. BusinessWorld, p. S1/6.