Yangtze River Dries Up, Revealing 600-Year-Old Buddhist Statues

Missing from the article is any explanation for why the statues were above water 600 years ago, then below water most of the time, and are now above water again (at least briefly).

Has there been some change in the course of the river? Was it generally drier 600 years ago? Is post-glacial rebound occurring (ie, if ice sheets existed a bit further north, pushing down land under them, and up south of them, with things now settling back down since the ice is gone)?

> “I don’t think we will see it again when the water level comes back.”

I know it is hard to admit, but this is the new normal, and it will likely get worse before humanity gets its shit together.

So climate change is a continuous process regardless of whether Buddha drove an Internal combustion engine or a lithium battery charged by a coal plant ?