According to the agency’s first report on global water resources, unusually dry areas include the Rio de la Plata region of South America, where a prolonged drought has affected the region since 2019.
In Africa, major rivers such as the Niger, Volta, Nile and Congo have below-average water flows in 2021. A similar trend is observed in rivers in some parts of Russia, Western Siberia and Central ASIAN.
On the other hand, there are above-normal river flows in some basins of North America, Northern Amazon and South Africa, as well as in the Amur basin of China and northern India.
In Africa, rivers such as the Niger, Volta, Nile and Congo have below-normal discharges in 2021, along with parts of Russia, Western Siberia and Central Asia.
The WMO says 3.6 billion people do not have access to enough water for at least one month each year, and that number is expected to grow to more than 5 billion by 2050.
Climate crisis
“The effects of climate change are often felt through water – more frequent and intense droughts, more severe floods, more erratic seasonal rainfall and faster melting of ice,” said WMO. cascade effects on our economies, ecosystems, and all aspects of our daily lives.” Secretary General Prof. Petteri Taalas.
“The changes in the distribution, quantity and quality of freshwater resources are not fully understood.”
Report on the status of global water resources “It aims to fill that knowledge gap and provide a brief overview of water availability in different parts of the world,” he added.
“This will inform climate adaptation and mitigation investments as well as the UN campaign to provide universal access over the next five years for early warning of hazards such as floods and droughts”.
The water of the Logone River has flooded the Kousseri district in Far North Cameroon.
Water, water everywhere
From 2001 to 2018, UN-Country reported that a staggering 74 percent of all natural disasters are water-related.
The recent United Nations climate change conference, COP27, in Egypt, called on governments to continue integrating water into adaptation effortsWater has been referenced in the COP results document for the first time in recognition of its importance, the WMO noted.
The first edition of the report looks at runoff – the volume of water that flows through a river channel at any given time – and also assesses terrestrial water reserves – in other words, all water above the land surface and below. surface and cryosphere (water freezing).
The report highlights a fundamental problem: the lack of accessible verified hydrological data.
WMO’s unified data policy seeks to accelerate the availability and sharing of hydrological data, including river discharge and transboundary watershed information.
ground cover
In addition to river-flow variations, total above-ground water is stored below normal on the west coast of the United States, in central South America and Patagonia, North Africa and Madagascar, Central Asia and the Middle East, Pakistan and North India.
It is higher than normal in Central Africa, northern South America – specifically the Amazon basin – and northern China.
“Negative trends are generally stronger than positive trends,” warned the WMO, with several hotspots emerging including Patagonia, the headwaters of the Ganges and Indus, as well as the southwestern United States.
Glaciers in Chile and Argentina have retreated significantly over the past two decades.
cold floor
The cryosphere – namely glaciers, snowcapped, ice caps and, if present, permafrost – is the world’s largest natural freshwater reservoir.
“Changes to cold water resources affect food security, human health, ecosystem integrity and maintenance, and lead to significant impacts on the environment,” said WMO. economic and social development,” said WMO, which sometimes causes river floods and flash floods due to the explosion of glacial lakes.
With increasing temperatures, the annual amount of water flowing through the glacier usually increases at first, until a turning point, commonly known as the “peak water”, is reached, when the outflow decreases.
The WMO adds that long-term forecasts of glacier flows and peak water times are important inputs for long-term adaptation decisions.
