2023 driest year for global rivers in over three decades: WMO report

Glaciers suffered the largest mass loss ever registered in the last five decades. 2023 is the second consecutive year in which all regions in the world with glaciers reported ice loss.
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According to the State of Global Water Resource report, the year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades, according to a new report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which signalled critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand.

Currently, 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water at least a month per year and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050, according to UN Water, and the world is far off track Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.

The last five consecutive years have recorded widespread below-normal conditions for river flows, with reservoir inflows following a similar pattern. This reduces the amount of water available for communities, agriculture and ecosystems, further stressing global water supplies, says the Report.

Glaciers suffered the largest mass loss ever registered in the last five decades. 2023 is the second consecutive year in which all regions in the world with glaciers reported ice loss.

With 2023 being the hottest year on record, elevated temperatures and widespread dry conditions contributed to prolonged droughts. But there were also a significant number of floods around the world. The extreme hydrological events were influenced by naturally occurring climate conditions – the transition from La Niña to El Niño in mid-2023 – as well as human induced climate change.

“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies. Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. And yet we are not taking the necessary urgent action,” she further said.

Human induced climate change resulted in rising temperatures which accelerated the hydrological cycle. It becomes more erratic and unpredictable, as it causes either too much or too little rain.

“A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture which is conducive to heavy rainfall. More rapid evaporation and drying of soils worsen drought conditions,” she said.

The State of Global Water Resources report based on input from dozens of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other organizations and experts. It aligns with focus on the global Early Warnings for All initiative on improving data quality and access for water-related hazard monitoring and forecasting, and providing early warning systems for all by 2027.

Table: Hot and dried year 2023 in the past three decades

1. 2023 was driest year for global rivers in 33 years

2. Glaciers suffer largest mass loss in 50 years

3. Climate change makes hydrological cycle becomes more erratic

4. Early Warnings for All must tackle water-related hazards

5. WMO calls for better monitoring and data sharing

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