The global water cycle is becoming more and more erratic, cut between drought and the floods of serious consequences for companies and economies, warned the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its global Water Resources 2024 report published Thursday.
The study revealed that only a third of river basins worldwide have experienced “normal” conditions last year, the rest above or below the average – marking the sixth consecutive year of imbalance.
He also reported the third consecutive year of loss of general glacier, with 450 gigatons of ice disappearing, increasing the world level of the sea by 1.2 millimeter in a single year.
Pakistan among regions more humid than normal
While the severe drought seized the Amazon basin, some parts of South America and southern Africa, the report noted that Pakistan had undergone more humid conditions than the average in 2024.
He added that river flow into the Indus basin swelled above normal levels, alongside other major systems such as Danube, Ganges and Godavari.
Pakistan, already vulnerable to the extremes linked to the climate, remains exposed to both the floods and the water shortage. The country experienced catastrophic floods in 2022, followed by irregular monsoon models and continues to deal with challenges in the management of water resources in a quick glacier context in Himalayas.
Cascade global risks
The secretary general of the OMD, Celeste Saulo, said that the water resources in the world are under “increasing pressure”, the extremes becoming more damaging.
“Reliable and scientific information is more important than ever, because we cannot manage what we do not measure,” she said, urging a greater investment in monitoring and sharing data.
The report has highlighted in-depth floods through West Africa, raised the flow of the river in Central Europe and Asia, and a persistent drought in the main South American and African basins.
Almost all the monitored lakes have recorded higher summer surface temperatures than normal, which increases water quality problems. Surveillance of groundwater has shown only 38% of wells at normal levels, many of which suffered from depletion due to an overexraction.
With 3.6 billion people being already confronted with the water shortage for at least a month each year – a figure planned to exceed 5 billion by 2050 – WMO warned that the world was far from obtaining the Sustainable Development target 6 on water and sanitation.
“The risks are trying,” warned Saulo, pointing to the combination of the weather in El Niño, recording world heat in 2024 and accelerating the loss of glacier. “Without better data and better collaboration, we risk flying blind.”
