The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Monday said that the year 2023 marked the "driest year" for global rivers in over three decades, signaling critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand.
According to WMO's new report, 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," the report said.
It stressed that glaciers suffered the "largest mass loss ever registered" in the last five decades and said that 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, the report said, elevated temperatures and widespread dry conditions contributed to prolonged droughts.
It, however, noted that a considerable number of flood incidents also occurred worldwide during the same period and said that the occurrence of these extreme hydrological events was influenced by a number of factors, including the transition from La Nina to El Nino conditions in mid-2023, as well as human-induced climate change.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said: "Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. 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."
As a result of rising temperatures, not only the hydrological cycle has accelerated but it has also become "more erratic and unpredictable," Saulo said and warned that the world is facing "growing problems of either too much or too little water."
"This report seeks to contribute to improved monitoring, data-sharing, cross-border collaboration and assessments," she said, adding: "This is urgently needed."
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.
