• In Germany, one of the longest dry spells on record has left part of the Rhine, above, at record-low levels for months, causing havoc for many European businesses.

Around 80 percent of the cargo transported by ship in Germany travels the Rhine, which many freighters have had to stop plying. Gas stations reliant on the river for fuel delivery from the Netherlands have run dry, and a German chemical plant that uses the Rhine’s water had to trim back production.

Europeans are bracing for further instability, with one researcher predicting that because of a warming climate, “the extremes are going to happen more often.”

Separately, an environmental group has found new evidence that rogue factories in China are behind the resurgence of the banned gas CFC-11, which destroys the ozone layer and contributes to global warming.