<\/p>\n
Stay informed with free updates<\/p>\n
Simply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Global water resources are under growing pressure from an increasingly \u201cerratic\u201d hydrological cycle, the UN meteorological agency has said, with two-thirds of all river basins suffering from abnormal conditions last year.<\/p>\n<p>It was the sixth consecutive year of clear imbalance,\u00a0the World Meteorological Organisation said in its latest report, as the majority of rivers either ran dryer or wetter than usual, compared with the 1991-2020 average.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe water cycle at a global scale is moving faster,\u201d said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at the WMO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Last year was the hottest on record for the planet, with the average surface temperature 1.6C above preindustrial levels as greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high, and many of the world\u2019s oceans also hit record temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO\u2019s assessment of water stored in lakes, rivers, groundwater, soils, snow and ice last year flagged that higher atmospheric temperatures lead to longer dry periods in some parts of the world.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, warmer oceans were more prone to evaporation as a warmer atmosphere is better able hold moisture, which contributed to more rainfall elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>The Amazon basin and parts of South America and southern Africa were hit by a severe drought last year, for example, while central, western and eastern Africa, parts of Asia and central Europe experienced wetter-than-normal conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout\" data-component=\"flourish\" data-component-id=\"25183378\" data-component-type=\"flourish-in-article\">\n<figure class=\"n-content-picture n-content-layout__container\"><picture data-asset-type=\"flourish\" data-flourish-id=\"25183378\" data-flourish-type=\"visualisation\">\n<div id=\"25183378\" class=\"cp-message o-message o-message--inform o-message--notice\" data-o-component=\"o-message\">\n<div class=\"o-message__container\">\n<div class=\"o-message__content\">\n<p class=\"o-message__content-main\">Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.flourish.studio%2Fvisualisation%2F25183378%2Fthumbnail%3FcacheBuster%3D976764?source=cp-content-pipeline&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=2626&dpr=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unusually heavy rainfall in the tropics in Africa led to about 2,500 deaths and the displacement of 4mn people, the WMO said. Record rain and tropical cyclones also led to more than 1,000 deaths in Asia and the Pacific. <\/p>\n<p>Europe had its most extensive flooding since 2013, causing insurers to estimate they would face up to \u20ac3bn in claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater sustains our societies, powers our economies and anchors our ecosystems,\u201d said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo. \u201cAnd yet the world\u2019s water resources are under growing pressure,\u201d she said, noting \u201cextreme water-related hazards\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>All glacial regions reported losses due to melt for the third consecutive year, the WMO said. It estimated the loss at 450 gigatonnes, the equivalent of a huge block of ice 7km tall, 7km wide and 7km deep, or enough water to fill 180mn Olympic swimming pools.<\/p>\n<p>There was a record level of ice loss in Scandinavia and Svalbard, in the Nordic region, as well as North Asia, it said. Globally, total ice melt last year was enough to add 1.2 millimetres to sea levels.<\/p>\n<p>Only 38 per cent of the wells in countries that submitted groundwater data had normal levels last year. The UN\u2019s water co-ordination agency estimates that 3.6bn people struggle to access water at least one month a year, a number it expects to rise to 5bn within 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO\u2019s Uhlenbrook highlighted the need for more monitoring and data sharing on water globally to deal with fluctuations that have become more dramatic as a result of climate change. <\/p>\n<p>He cited the example of the Swiss village of Blatten, which was nearly wiped off the map last year because of glacier melt, but suffered nearly no fatalities. \u201cWhile a village was buried with debris and mud, overall it was not a disaster. And this happens because of preparedness, because of data, observations and qualified people.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout\" data-layout-name=\"card\" data-layout-width=\"full-width\">\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__container\">\n<h3 class=\"n-content-heading-3 o3-editorial-typography-subheading\">Climate Capital<\/h3>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__slot\">\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=2 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec.jpg?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1\" alt=\"\" data-image-type=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__slot\">\n<p>Where climate change meets business, markets and politics.\u00a0Explore the FT\u2019s coverage here.<\/p>\n<p>Are you curious about the FT\u2019s environmental sustainability commitments?\u00a0Find out more about our science-based targets here<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Twothirds #rivers #suffered #abnormal #conditions #hottest #year #WMO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Global water resources are under growing pressure from an increasingly \u201cerratic\u201d hydrological cycle, the UN meteorological agency has said, with two-thirds of all river basins suffering from abnormal conditions last year. It was the sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[962,963,964,960,961,959,965,773],"class_list":{"0":"post-1806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-abnormal","9":"tag-conditions","10":"tag-hottest","11":"tag-rivers","12":"tag-suffered","13":"tag-twothirds","14":"tag-wmo","15":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Global water resources are under growing pressure from an increasingly \u201cerratic\u201d hydrological cycle, the UN meteorological agency has said, with two-thirds of all river basins suffering from abnormal conditions last year.<\/p>\n<p>It was the sixth consecutive year of clear imbalance,\u00a0the World Meteorological Organisation said in its latest report, as the majority of rivers either ran dryer or wetter than usual, compared with the 1991-2020 average.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe water cycle at a global scale is moving faster,\u201d said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at the WMO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Last year was the hottest on record for the planet, with the average surface temperature 1.6C above preindustrial levels as greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high, and many of the world\u2019s oceans also hit record temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO\u2019s assessment of water stored in lakes, rivers, groundwater, soils, snow and ice last year flagged that higher atmospheric temperatures lead to longer dry periods in some parts of the world.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, warmer oceans were more prone to evaporation as a warmer atmosphere is better able hold moisture, which contributed to more rainfall elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>The Amazon basin and parts of South America and southern Africa were hit by a severe drought last year, for example, while central, western and eastern Africa, parts of Asia and central Europe experienced wetter-than-normal conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout\" data-component=\"flourish\" data-component-id=\"25183378\" data-component-type=\"flourish-in-article\">\n<figure class=\"n-content-picture n-content-layout__container\"><picture data-asset-type=\"flourish\" data-flourish-id=\"25183378\" data-flourish-type=\"visualisation\">\n<div id=\"25183378\" class=\"cp-message o-message o-message--inform o-message--notice\" data-o-component=\"o-message\">\n<div class=\"o-message__container\">\n<div class=\"o-message__content\">\n<p class=\"o-message__content-main\">Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.flourish.studio%2Fvisualisation%2F25183378%2Fthumbnail%3FcacheBuster%3D976764?source=cp-content-pipeline&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=2626&dpr=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unusually heavy rainfall in the tropics in Africa led to about 2,500 deaths and the displacement of 4mn people, the WMO said. Record rain and tropical cyclones also led to more than 1,000 deaths in Asia and the Pacific. <\/p>\n<p>Europe had its most extensive flooding since 2013, causing insurers to estimate they would face up to \u20ac3bn in claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater sustains our societies, powers our economies and anchors our ecosystems,\u201d said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo. \u201cAnd yet the world\u2019s water resources are under growing pressure,\u201d she said, noting \u201cextreme water-related hazards\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>All glacial regions reported losses due to melt for the third consecutive year, the WMO said. It estimated the loss at 450 gigatonnes, the equivalent of a huge block of ice 7km tall, 7km wide and 7km deep, or enough water to fill 180mn Olympic swimming pools.<\/p>\n<p>There was a record level of ice loss in Scandinavia and Svalbard, in the Nordic region, as well as North Asia, it said. Globally, total ice melt last year was enough to add 1.2 millimetres to sea levels.<\/p>\n<p>Only 38 per cent of the wells in countries that submitted groundwater data had normal levels last year. The UN\u2019s water co-ordination agency estimates that 3.6bn people struggle to access water at least one month a year, a number it expects to rise to 5bn within 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO\u2019s Uhlenbrook highlighted the need for more monitoring and data sharing on water globally to deal with fluctuations that have become more dramatic as a result of climate change. <\/p>\n<p>He cited the example of the Swiss village of Blatten, which was nearly wiped off the map last year because of glacier melt, but suffered nearly no fatalities. \u201cWhile a village was buried with debris and mud, overall it was not a disaster. And this happens because of preparedness, because of data, observations and qualified people.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout\" data-layout-name=\"card\" data-layout-width=\"full-width\">\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__container\">\n<h3 class=\"n-content-heading-3 o3-editorial-typography-subheading\">Climate Capital<\/h3>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__slot\">\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=2 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec.jpg?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1\" alt=\"\" data-image-type=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout__slot\">\n<p>Where climate change meets business, markets and politics.\u00a0Explore the FT\u2019s coverage here.<\/p>\n<p>Are you curious about the FT\u2019s environmental sustainability commitments?\u00a0Find out more about our science-based targets here<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Twothirds #rivers #suffered #abnormal #conditions #hottest #year #WMO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Global water resources are under growing pressure from an increasingly \u201cerratic\u201d hydrological cycle, the UN meteorological agency has said, with two-thirds of all river basins suffering from abnormal conditions last year. It was the sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[962,963,964,960,961,959,965,773],"class_list":{"0":"post-1806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-abnormal","9":"tag-conditions","10":"tag-hottest","11":"tag-rivers","12":"tag-suffered","13":"tag-twothirds","14":"tag-wmo","15":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}