专家表示，如果中西部的干旱状况继续恶化，驳船在密西西比河上空转的图像可能预示着未来的经济困境。
美国大陆中部最重要的贸易路线之一的水位低于正常水平，导致集装箱、休闲船甚至游轮等船只陷入淤泥和沙子中，而这些淤泥和沙子此前被充足的河水覆盖。
专家告诉美国广播公司新闻，虽然驳船被困在沙洲上在一年中的这个时候并不罕见，但根据美国国家气象局的数据，在田纳西州和阿肯色州边境附近和南部的一些地区，密西西比河下游的水位正在接近历史最高水平国家海洋和大气管理局
美国海岸警卫队在一份声明中宣布，上周，有近150艘船只和2250多艘驳船排队漂浮在密西西比州孟菲斯维克斯堡附近的密西西比河河段，那里发生了交通堵塞。
据气象部门称，密西西比河周围的大部分地区正在经历异常干旱和严重干旱美国干旱监测。明尼苏达州圣保罗圣托马斯大学的工程学助理教授Mohsen Tahmasebi Nasab对美国广播公司新闻说，从明尼苏达州到路易斯安那州的沿河地区自8月以来降雨量低于平均水平，他对密西西比河进行了广泛的研究。
南伊利诺伊大学地球系统和可持续发展学院的副教授乔纳森·雷莫告诉美国广播公司，到目前为止，干旱在中西部并不是“非典型的”，因为这些条件往往每十年发生一次。
雷莫说，密西西比河上一次出现如此低的水位是在2012年，近几十年来最大的干旱发生在1988年。
Barges are seen in the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Miss., on Oct. 4, 2022. The unusually low water level in the lower Mississippi River is causing barges to get stuck in the muddy river bottom, resulting in delays.
托马斯·伯纳通过美联社
然而，Remo补充说，考虑到这个季节还很早，如果该地区在未来几周内没有开始出现重大降雨事件，密西西比河可能会达到历史最低水平。
“我们还没有创纪录，”他说。“但潜力是存在的。”
他说，纳萨布5月份在明尼阿波利斯的明尼阿波利斯瀑布拍摄的照片显示了一个喷涌的瀑布，但9月份在同一地点拍摄的图像显示，由于缺少雨水，瀑布几乎干涸。
纳萨布说，明尼苏达州的干旱是一种长期趋势，始于2021年。
密西西比河是该地区一条重要的贸易路线。雷莫说，现在是秋收后谷物顺流而下，通过新奥尔良和墨西哥湾出口的黄金时间。此外，水泥、砾石和燃料等货物也经常出现在河水中。
他说，雷莫预计，在可预见的未来，许多此类商品的供应链会出现延误。
雷莫说，在水位开始再次上升之前，水位可能会变得更糟，甚至会下降更多。
雷莫说，密西西比河的核心是帮助河流保持水分，使其适合大型船只航行。他说，一旦散布在密西西比河沿岸的较大的次级盆地在冬季关闭，通常从11月初开始，水位可能会进一步下降，导致供应链更加头疼。
“如果发生这种情况，我们真的会看到它备份，并可能关闭部分河流的航行，”雷莫说。
纳萨布说，密西西比河贸易路线不断停滞的后果将对水文、水资源、工程、商业和经济产生“重大”影响。
“这将中断已经断裂的供应链，从这条河的商业和经济角度来看，这将加剧局势，”他说。
Barges idling along Mississippi River sign of supply chain woes to come should drought worsen: Experts
The image of barges idling along the Mississippi River could be indicative of future economic woes should the drought conditions in the Midwest continue to worsen, according to experts.
The lower-than-usual water levels on one of the most important trade routes in the middle of the continental U.S. is causing vessels such as shipping containers, recreational boaters and even cruise lines to stall in mud and sand that was previously covered in ample river water.
While barges stuck on sandbars are not all that unusual for this time of year, experts told ABC News, water levels in the lower half of the Mississippi River are nearing record levels in some areas near and south of the Tennessee-Arkansas border, according to data from theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Last week, there were nearly 150 vessels and more than 2,250 barges in a queue to float through stretches of the Mississippi River near Memphis Vicksburg, Mississippi, where traffic jams had ensued, the U.S. Coast Guard announced in a statement.
Much of the region surrounding the Mississippi River is experiencing conditions between abnormally dry and severe drought, according to theU.S. Drought Monitor. Regions along the river from Minnesota to Louisiana have been receiving below-average rainfall since August, Mohsen Tahmasebi Nasab, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, who has researched the Mississippi River extensively, told ABC News.
The drought so far is not "atypical" in the Midwest, as these conditions tend to occur about once a decade, Jonathan Remo, an associate professor at Southern Illinois University's School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, told ABC News.
The last time the Mississippi River saw water levels this low was in 2012, and the biggest drought in recent decades occurred in 1988, Remo said.
However, considering how early in the season it is, the Mississippi could potentially reach record-low levels if the region does not start to receive significant rain events in the coming weeks, Remo added.
"We're not at record yet," he said. "But the potential is there."
Photos Nasab took of the Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis in May show a gushing waterfall, but images from the same spot in September showed that the waterfall almost dried up due to the lack of rain, he said.
The drought in Minnesota has been a prolonged trend that began in 2021, Nasab said.
The Mississippi River is an essential trade route in the region. Right now is the start of the prime time for grains to move down the river and ship for export through New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico following the fall harvest, Remo said. In addition, goods like cement, gravel and fuel also frequent the river waters.
Remo expects supply chain delays for many of these goods in the foreseeable future, he said.
The water levels will likely get worse, and recede even more, before they begin to rise again, Remo said.
The core of the Mississippi River is what helps the river maintain water, making it navigable for those large vessels, Remo said. Once the larger sub-basins scattered along the Mississippi are shut off for the winter, usually beginning in early November, those water levels could recede even lower, resulting in more headaches for the supply chain, he sai.
"If that happens, we'll really see it back up, and a potential shutdown of portions of the river for navigation," Remo said.
The consequences of a constantly stalled Mississippi River trade route will be "significant" for hydrology, water resources, engineering, commerce and the economy, Nasab said.
"This is going to interrupt this already broken supply chain, and it's going to exacerbate the situation from the commerce and economic perspectives of the river," he said.
