<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/07/climate-warning-as-worlds-rivers-dry-up-at-fastest-rate-for-30-years>
"Rivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades in 2023, putting global
water supply at risk, data has shown.
Over the past five years, there have been lower-than-average river levels
across the globe and reservoirs have also been low, according to the World
Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Water Resources report.
In 2023, more than 50% of global river catchment areas showed abnormal
conditions, with most being in deficit. This was similar in 2022 and 2021.
Areas facing severe drought and low river discharge conditions included large
territories of North, Central and South America; for instance, the Amazon and
Mississippi rivers had record low water levels. On the other side of the globe,
in Asia and Oceania, the large Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong river basins
experienced lower-than-normal conditions almost over the entire basin
territories.
Climate breakdown appears to be changing where water goes, and helping to cause
extreme floods and droughts. 2023 was the hottest year on record, with rivers
running low and countries facing droughts, but it also brought devastating
floods across the globe.
The extremes were also influenced, according to the WMO, by the transition from
La Niña to El Niño in mid-2023. These are naturally occurring weather patterns;
El Niño refers to the above-average sea-surface temperatures that periodically
develop across the east-central equatorial Pacific, while La Niña refers to the
periodic cooling in those areas. However, scientists say climate breakdown is
exacerbating the impacts of these weather phenomena and making them more
difficult to predict.
Areas that faced flooding included the east coast of Africa, the North Island
of New Zealand, and the Philippines.
In the UK, Ireland, Finland and Sweden, there was above-normal discharge, which
is the volume of water flowing through a river at a given point in time.
“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change,” said the WMO secretary
general, Celeste Saulo. “We receive distress signals in the form of
increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on
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."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
