The global water cycle has become “increasingly erratic and extreme” with wild swings between droughts and floods, spelling big trouble for economies and societies, according to a report published Thursday by the World Meteorological Organization.
The water cycle refers to the complex system by which water moves around the Earth. It evaporates from the ground — including from lakes and rivers — and rises into the atmosphere, forming large streams of water vapor able to travel long distances, before eventually falling back down to Earth as rain or snow.
Climate change, driven by humans burning fossil fuels, is upending this process.
Nearly two thirds of global river basins did not experience “normal conditions” last year, grappling with either too much or too little water, according to the WMO’s State of Global Water Resources report, an annual analysis of global freshwater, including streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, snow and ice.
Many regions grappled with a dearth of water in 2024, the planet’s hottest year on record. Amazon rivers fell to unprecedented lows, parts of southern Africa endured a drought so extreme governments said they needed to cull hundreds of animals including elephants, and crops shriveled in areas of the United States such as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
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