According to a United Nations meteorological office assessment, river flows worldwide plummeted to all-time lows last year due to record heat, putting water supplies at risk in an era of rising demand.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of world Water Resources report, there was “severe stress on global water supplies, with five consecutive years of below-normal river flows and reservoir inflows” on Monday.
Prolonged droughts cut river flows in large parts of North, Central and South America with the Mississippi and Amazon River basins reporting record low water levels in 2023, said the report, based on data going back 33 years
The Ganges and Mekong River basins also saw below-average conditions, according to the research. Overall, 50% of global catchment areas were in abnormal condition, with the majority being in deficit, decreasing water availability for agriculture and industry.
“Water is becoming the most telling indicator of our time of climate distress, and yet, as a global society, we are not taking action to protect these reserves,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told reporters during a news briefing in Geneva.
She warned that climate change was making water cycles more unpredictable, and she advocated for expanded hydrological monitoring to track and respond to these changes.
According to the weather agency, 3.6 billion people do not have access to clean water for at least one month of the year, a figure that is anticipated to climb to 5 billion by 2050.
Stefan Uhlenbrook, the World Meteorological Organization’s director of hydrology, predicted further water scarcity this year in areas of the world where new heat records have been observed.