The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) cautioned in its State of Global Water Resources 2024 study released Thursday that the world’s water cycle is becoming more unpredictable, lurching between drought and flooding with dire repercussions for economies and civilizations.
Only one-third of river basins globally had “normal” circumstances last year, according to the report; the remaining basins saw either above- or below-average conditions, which is the sixth year in a row of imbalance.
Additionally, it revealed that 450 gigatonnes of ice had vanished in a single year, causing global sea levels to rise by 1.2 mm, marking the third consecutive year of extensive glacier loss.
