Climate change wreaking havoc on world’s water cycle: UN

The United Nations has warned that climate change is altering the Earth’s water cycle, which is causing extreme variations between drought and deluge all over the world.

In a report released on Thursday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the UN revealed that the world’s water cycle was becoming ever more unpredictable as glaciers, droughts, unbalanced river basins, and severe floods were all causing havoc.

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In a statement that came with the release of the annual State of Global Water Resources report, WMO chief Celeste Saulo stated that “the world’s water resources are under growing pressure and are also having an increasing impact on lives and livelihoods.

The international team of scientists assessed the availability of freshwater and its use in various global water sources, including lakes, river flows, groundwater, soil moisture, snow cover, and ice melt.

The Amazon Basin, Southern Africa, and northern regions of South America experienced prolonged droughts for the longest time in history.

Meanwhile, parts of Central Africa, Europe, and Asia were experiencing more wet weather than usual, with some regions experiencing devastating floods or deadly storms, according to the report.

According to WMO, 2024 marked the sixth consecutive year in a row there has been a “clear imbalance” in the world’s river basins.

The increasingly erratic hydrological cycle is reflected in the statement that “two-thirds have too much or too little water.”

The global water cycle is accelerating, according to the report, despite natural cycles of climate variability that vary year to year.

It is “increasingly difficult to predict,” according to Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO’s director of hydrology for the water and cryosphere division.

He said, “It’s more erratic, so either it’s too much or too little on average per year.”

The atmosphere may hold more water, which will result in longer dry spells or more severe rainfall as a result of global warming.

According to Uhlenbrook, “everything is changing, and that has an effect on the water cycle dynamics.”

The WMO also raised the issue of declining water quality in important lakes, which is reflected in the third year in a row that glaciers have shrunk across all regions.

According to the report, the meltwater increased the global sea level by about 1.2mm in a single year, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk of flooding.

More monitoring and data sharing was a requirement, according to the WMO.