Britain’s Prince Philip (you know, the queen’s husband) warned today that the Danube River is on a path toward ecological disaster unless European governments rally to save it. The prince, who is an honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund, said, “Pollution, scouring, and disturbance are slowly killing the natural balance of the whole river system.” He spoke at an environmental conference in Bucharest that was attended by nine presidents. The Danube, which flows through 11 European countries, has had a tough run of it lately, what with NATO bombs knocking bridges into the river during the war in Kosovo and a huge cyanide spill in Romania killing hundreds of tons of fish in a tributary of the river.
