Climate change and humans are altering the global hydrological cycle

Experts highlight that droughts and heavy rains take a heavy toll on lives and severely punish economies.

At the same time, the melting of snow, ice and glaciers has exacerbated risks such as floods and threatened the long-term water security of many millions of people.

However, little is known about the true state of global freshwater resources.

The 2022 edition of the World Meteorological Organization’s report on the state of global water resources calls for a radical change in water policies.

Monitoring and evaluation of water resources, corresponding data exchange and cross-border cooperation must be improved, and achieving these improvements inevitably requires increased investment.

The document explains that this is a critical endeavor to help society deal with increasingly severe episodes of water overuse or water scarcity.

“The WMO report provides a comprehensive and coherent view of water resources around the world, highlighting the impact of changes in climate, environment and society,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas.

“Glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking before our eyes. Rising temperatures have not only accelerated the hydrological cycle, but also changed it.

“A warmer atmosphere retains more moisture, which is why we see more intense rainfall and flooding. By contrast, evaporation doubles and soil dryness and drought severity worsen.”

He added that the vast majority of disasters are related to water, so managing and monitoring this resource is an essential part of the Global Early Warning for All Initiative.

“This report is a call to action to intensify data sharing to enable meaningful early warnings and more coordinated and integrated water management policies that lie at the heart of climate action,” Taalas stressed.

Currently, 3.6 billion people lack access to sufficient water for at least one month per year, and by 2050, this number is expected to rise to more than five billion, according to data from the United Nations Commission on Water Resources.

M/LPN