In addition to being an exceptionally hot year, 2023 was notable for the drying up of water flows, which in certain areas led to protracted droughts.
On Monday, October 7, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published the most recent edition of its “State of Global Water Resources” report.
It covers, among other things, evaporation of water from land and plants, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, soil moisture, and glaciers.
“We had never observed such a vast region of the planet experiencing such extreme dryness. It was therefore the driest year out of the 33 years of data that we looked at for this research.”
While parts of Oceania saw significant dry conditions, such as the well-known Amazon and Lake Titicaca in southern America, other regions experienced flooding.
The head of the WMO warned of irregular hydrological cycles.
“Water is the basis of life in this world. It can, however, also be a destructive force. One of the main conclusions of this paper is that, as water becomes more unpredictable, extreme behaviors such as abrupt floods and severe droughts are caused by an erratic hydrological cycle, which we refer to as climate change.”
At least 130 people lost their lives in the Horn of Africa in November 2023 as a result of intense rains that caused flooding that relief organizations said only happened once every 100 years.
In order to assist shed light on the true situation of water resources and enable nations and communities to take appropriate action, the WMO urged for improvements in data collection and exchange.
(AP)
