The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the US, flowing 2,350 miles from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, per National Park Service. But the high temperatures this summer have also made it the latest body of water in North America to be hit by the severe drought.
As water levels in the river continue to recede, it also threatens the US commerce and supply chain. Due to that, many wonder whether the river will ever completely dry up and its possible effects not only on the environment but as well as to the country's economy.
Sunken Ship Resurfaces Due to Severe Drought
The Mississippi River water levels are so low that the island in middle called Tower Rock has become accessible by foot for the first time, UPI reported. Before the water levels dropped, Tower Rock was an island within the main channel but now a dry stretch of land allows visitors to walk to the once-isolated landmark.
The island was previously only accessible by boat because it was surrounded by water, says Missouri resident Jeff Miget. But people can get there now without getting their feet wet.
But the island is not the first incident to occur recently due to the severe drought. The sunken shipwreck from the 19th century was also discovered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as the water levels drop. Patrick Ford, a resident in the area, told CNN's affiliate WBRZ that he was looking at the rover when he realized the rest of the shore had washed away, and there lies an entire ship.
Ford immediately reached out to experts, such as the state's archaeologist Chip McGimsey. He said that their team has known about the Brookhill shipwreck for quite some time and believes that it is a ship that was manufactured in 1896 in Indiana that was used for trading. Records have shown that the ship sank in 1915 together with its sister ship, the Istrouma, after a storm.
The extremely low water levels in the river have exposed 90% of half of the hull. The team plans to study the shipwreck, which is considered to be a rare boat from the 1900s. They will be building on reports back in the '90s to see what the ship once looked like.
READ ALSO: Severe Drought Reveals 113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprints at A Dried Up River in Texas
Will the Mississippi River Ever Dry Up?
Barry D. Keim, the Louisiana state climatologist, told Newsweek that it would take extreme droughts for decades to completely dry up the Mississippi River because there will always be some water in the river.
Some states, like Kansas and Oklahoma, are in extreme or exceptional drought as they drain into the Mississippi River. He explained that the summer this year and the atmosphere heats up causing very warm temperatures throughout the season. As fall arrives, the surface starts to cool off a bit.
Although he noted that the upper atmosphere is still relatively warm due to a lag that takes time for the surface to work its way up into the atmosphere. The Mississippi River's case is unlike others that could reach a dead pool due to drought. Rather, Keim said that the river has produced above-normal water flow in recent years.
"We're just having weird little anomaly right now that this is, this is really a one-year issue," Newsweek quoted Keim. "Whereby, you know, recent years I mean, we've had record flows on the Mississippi River, and having too much water in the river has really been a bigger problem."
RELATED ARTICLE: Current Mega-Drought in the US Exceeded the One That Occurred in the 1500s
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