Unstable water future: WMO report raises alarm

The world’s water cycle is becoming increasingly unpredictable, leading to more destructive floods and droughts, according to a recent release by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The report outlines how shrinking glaciers, droughts, uneven water distribution, and destructive floods in 2024 are a sign of how climate change is making water resources increasingly unpredictable.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement issued in the press release, “Water sustains our societies, powers our economies, and anchors our ecosystems.”

“And yet the world’s water resources are under growing pressure, and-at the same time- more extreme water-related hazards are having an increasing impact on lives and livelihoods.”

For the third straight year, every single glacier region has reported a loss of ice, which means in total, glaciers around the world lost 450 gigatonnes of ice which is the equivalent of a huge block of ice 7 kilometers tall, 7 kilometers wide, and 7 kilometers deep, or enough water to fill 180 million Olympic swimming pools.

This meltwater contributes approximately 1.2 millimeters to global sea-level rise annually, thereby increasing flood risks for hundreds of millions of people in coastal areas.

In many small-glacier regions, meltwater has already peaked or will soon reach its peak, a point known as "peak water," after which glacier shrinkage leads to declining annual glacier melt.

In 2024, two-thirds of the world’s river basins saw abnormal conditions. The Amazon Basin and other parts of Africa were gripped by severe drought last year.

In Central, Western, and Eastern Africa, as well as parts of Asia and Central Europe, conditions were wetter than usual.

Roughly 60% of rivers now flow with either too much or too little water. That’s an alarming sign.

The World Meteorological Organization says 2024 was the sixth year in a row where there has been a “clear imbalance,” reflecting the world’s increasingly unpredictable water cycle.

UN Water estimates that 3.6 billion people globally experience water scarcity for at least one month a day, with projections indicating that this number will rise to more than 5 billion by 2050.

The report released by WMO highlights the urgent need for improved monitoring and data sharing with reliable, science-backed information, which is more important than ever.