Europe heat wave fuels drought, fires and energy fears

Europe's heat wave exposes buried history and new threats — Nazi-era wrecks emerge from the Danube, nuclear reactors face cooling risks, and Greece battles deadly wildfires.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7597x5065+0+0/resize/7597x5065!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F56%2F51%2F9f2193d34be290200149af3e68f6%2Fap26216451993180.jpg' alt='A man walks on a sandbank by the wreckage of a WWII German warship, which emerged during the drought in front of Djerdap II, a large dam on the Danube River between Romania and Serbia near Prahovo on Aug. 4, 2026.'/><p>Europe's heat wave exposes buried history and new threats — Nazi-era wrecks emerge from the Danube, nuclear reactors face cooling risks, and Greece battles deadly wildfires.</p><p>(Image credit: Darko Vojinovic)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5919214' />