World Meteorological Organization Warns of Disrupted Global Water Cycle
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a United Nations agency, warned on Thursday that the Earth's water cycle is "more disrupted and extreme than ever," with major implications for human societies.
According to a WMO report, last year, the hottest on record, only one-third of the world's river basins had "normal" water flow. All of the world's glacier regions suffered losses due to melting. The Amazon basin and other regions of South America, as well as southern Africa, experienced severe droughts, while other areas were wetter than normal, particularly in Africa, Asia, and central Europe.
"Our water resources are under increasing pressure, and at the same time, the intensity of water-related extreme events is increasing, with growing impacts on lives and livelihoods," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in a statement.
For the third consecutive year, scientists have recorded widespread glacier mass loss in all of the world's glacier regions. The amount of ice lost is approximately 450 billion tons, equivalent to a gigantic ice cube 7 kilometers on each side and high, or enough to fill 180 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. This melting added about 1.2 millimeters to the global sea level in just one year, increasing the risk of flooding for hundreds of millions of people living in coastal areas.
In 2024, the tropical zone of Africa experienced exceptional rainfall that caused the deaths of around 2,500 people and displaced four million others. Europe experienced its worst flooding since 2013, while Asia and the Pacific region were hit by record rainfall and tropical cyclones that claimed the lives of over 1,000 people, according to the WMO.
An Imbalanced Water Cycle
Over the past six years, only one-third of the world's river basins have had normal water flow compared to the 1991-2020 average, while the other two-thirds have experienced either a surplus or deficit of water, clear evidence of a "growing imbalance in the natural water cycle."
According to the United Nations, 3.6 billion people face difficulties in accessing water for at least one month per year, and this number is expected to exceed 5 billion by 2050.
