In a shocking report, the World Meteorological Organization found that rivers are drying at the fastest rate in 30 years globally, causing dire shockwaves and dangerous aftereffects throughout the world as water accessibility is threatened.

The year 2023 followed the same depreciating pattern as 2022 and 2021, where over 50% of global catchment areas showed abnormal conditions, with most of them being in a deficit of water supply.

Rivers Drying at the Fastest Rate in 30 Years Affecting Water Supply

2023 was the driest year for rivers in three decades. Most affected regions belong to North America, South America, and Central America, with observable data for an all-time low river water flow due to significant droughts and heat; meanwhile, in Asia and Oceania, the river Ganga, originating from the Himalayas, Brahmaputra and Mekong rivers produced lower-than-average flow rates, depicting a loss in water supply.

Reservoir inflows also hit most of the world, and glaciers lost the largest mass percentage within the last 50 years. With 2023 being the hottest year on record, the extreme natural disasters were aggravated due to the artificial effects produced by climate change.

WMO Secretary indicates that extreme weather events signal a dire warning about the future of global water resources during the WMO Media Release .

“Water is the canary in the coal mine of climate change. We receive distress signals from increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts, which greatly affect lives, ecosystems and economies. Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. And yet we are not taking the necessary urgent action,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

She calls for action and the dire need for better quantitative research to measure and indicate what effects were exacerbated due to climate change, addressing the globe to take action as one to save our planet from destruction.

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Glacial Melting and Freshwater Decline Signal a Global Water Crisis

This threatens future water security, with climate change being the leading factor in making the hydrological water cycle more sporadic and uneven. This causes the biosphere to be out of synchronicity and unharmonious, eventually leading to dramatic floods and extreme droughts.

Currently, around 3.6 billion people experience insufficient access to water for at least one month each year, and this number is projected to rise to over 5 billion by 2050, according to UN Water.

Glaciers also suffered significantly last year, losing over 600 gigatonnes of water—the highest amount recorded in 50 years of observation, based on preliminary data from the WMO for September 2022 to August 2023. Extreme melting occurred in the mountains of western North America and the European Alps. In Switzerland, the Alps lost approximately 10% of their remaining volume in just the past two years.

Although 70% of our planet’s surface is covered in water, only 2.5% is freshwater sources such as glaciers, rivers, and lakes necessary for human survival. Our large, booming, overpopulated cities and towns rely on this minuscule 2.5%, which is already dwindling. Not enough data and research have been conducted on freshwater. We need better monitoring and data sharing globally, and adapting to modern and collaborative techniques is the key to collecting information regarding water sources. We cannot manage what we do not know.

This report signifies an early warning to protect our water sources and reserves. Nothing can replace them. To protect lives from natural disasters and potential water depletion-induced disasters, we can and must ensure a more balanced and sustainable future.

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