GENEVA – Several polytheistic, Pagan and Indigenous religions and spiritual paths consider rivers sacred due to their spiritual significance, life-giving properties, and role in cultural rituals. They acknowledge a deep respect for rivers, viewing them as essential for life, spiritual purification, and connection to the divine.
This week, the World Meteorological Organization released its annual State of Global Water Resources report. Despite the current events being experienced with extreme weather and extensive flooding in some parts of the world including the southeastern United States, the news, unfortunately, is not uplifting.
In short, the year 2023 will be remembered as a turning point for global water resources. Marked by the driest river conditions in over three decades, escalating heat, and extreme weather events, the year brought unprecedented challenges to water availability and management. The report says these conditions highlight the urgent need for action in an era where water scarcity is becoming increasingly pronounced.
The report is informed by hydrological experts, including National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and organizations like NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences. The report is created using river discharge measurements from 713 stations in 33 countries- more than in previous years. The new report also expanded groundwater data collection (from 8,246 wells in 10 countries to 35,459 in 40). Despite these improvements, Africa, South America, and Asia remain underrepresented. Future reports will expand data collection, supported by the World Health Organization initiatives and collaborations with other global data centers.
Since 2018, river flows have consistently been below normal, exacerbating water shortages across the globe. Reservoir inflows followed a similar trend, leading to reduced water supplies for communities, agriculture, and ecosystems. The report reveals that in 2023, the situation reached a critical point. Glaciers suffered their largest mass loss in fifty years, and for the second consecutive year, every glaciered region of the world experienced ice loss.
By U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Federal Highway Administration. USDOT, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=687132
The situation has been compounded by 2023 being recorded as the hottest year on record, with global temperatures soaring due to a transition from La Niña to El Niño conditions and the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). These factors contributed to extreme weather patterns, including prolonged droughts and devastating floods, which, according to WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, are signs of “increasingly extreme rainfall, floods, and droughts.”
The WMO report underscores Africa’s severe human toll from extreme weather in 2023, with Libya experiencing one of the most tragic events. In September, two dams collapsed during a major flood, killing over 11,000 people and affecting 22% of the population. Elsewhere on the continent, countries such as Mozambique, Rwanda, and Malawi faced devastating floods, while drought-ravaged parts of the USA, Central America, and South America.
In Argentina, the drought resulted in an estimated 3% reduction in GDP, while Brazil and Peru experienced record-low water levels in the Amazon and Lake Titicaca. The Mississippi River also reached historic lows, reflecting a broader trend of diminished water availability across large areas of Northern, Central, and South America.
“The hydrological cycle has accelerated,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “It has also become more erratic and unpredictable, and we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water.” This acceleration has led to rapid evaporation and soil drying, which, coupled with increased atmospheric moisture, creates conditions conducive to both severe droughts and intense rainfall events.
Despite the growing impact of water scarcity and extreme weather, Saulo expressed concern over the global lack of comprehensive data on freshwater resources. “We cannot manage what we do not measure,” she emphasized, highlighting the importance of the State of Global Water Resources report in contributing to improved monitoring and data-sharing. The report, which is now in its third year, seeks to provide a detailed overview of global water resources, drawing from diverse hydrological data sources to inform policymakers.
The report details various regions facing extreme conditions. In the Amazon, low river discharge combined with high temperatures caused water levels in Lake Coari to plummet. Meanwhile, other regions, like the Ganges and Mekong River basins, showed below-average river conditions. Over 50% of global catchment areas faced abnormal conditions, with many experiencing water deficits that further strained resources.
Guanare River, Venezuela [Carlos E. Perez S.L, Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0
Conversely, some areas saw above-normal discharge levels. East Africa, Northern Europe, New Zealand, and parts of the Philippines experienced excessive flooding. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, river flows were above average, as they were in parts of Finland and Sweden. These extremes, the WMO noted, align with long-term trends of fluctuating water availability and rising temperatures due to climate change.
The report warns of the risks posed by climate-driven changes in water cycles. A significant concern is the decreasing mass of glaciers worldwide. In 2023, glaciers lost over 600 gigatonnes of water, marking the most significant melt in five decades. Rivers fed by glaciers, such as those in Europe and Scandinavia, saw temporarily increased flows, but as Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO’s Director of Hydrology, pointed out, this trend is unsustainable. “When the glacier is gone in a few more decades, it will be very dramatic.”
Uhlenbrook also highlighted the impact of heatwaves on water scarcity. The scorching summer of 2023 left soil moisture levels below normal across much of North America, South America, and the Middle East. In parts of Central and South America, evapotranspiration rates were also well below average, signaling increased dryness and heightened risks of prolonged droughts.
The WMO report aligns with the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All initiative, which focuses on improving water hazard monitoring and forecasting. The initiative aims to implement early warning systems for water-related hazards by 2027, a goal that resonates with the pressing need to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
As it stands, 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water for at least one month annually, a figure that could rise to 5 billion by 2050, according to UN-Water. The world is far off track in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for universal access to water and sanitation.
The report’s findings make it clear that much more data, measurements, and political will are needed to address the complexities of water scarcity and climate change. Nevertheless, the extreme weather events of 2023 serve as a stark reminder of the need for urgent action. Water is indeed the “canary in the coal mine” for climate change, as Saulo puts it, and ignoring its distress signals will only lead to more profound challenges ahead. As Saulo concluded, “This report seeks to contribute to improved monitoring, data-sharing, cross-border collaboration, and assessments, all of which are urgently needed.”
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