Date: 18 September 2025
Category: Climate and Environment
The world’s water systems are under mounting stress from climate change, with floods, storms, and droughts increasingly threatening lives and livelihoods across the globe, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Thursday.
“Water-related hazards continue to cause major devastation this year,” said Celeste Saulo, WMO Secretary-General. “Unfortunately, we see no end to this trend.”
Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks
The WMO’s latest report on the state of global waterways confirms that 2024 was the hottest year in 175 years of record-keeping, with average surface temperatures 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900).
Hotter air holds more moisture, intensifying rainfall and making severe floods and storms more frequent. Recent disasters include:
- Monsoon flooding in Pakistan
- Flash floods in Bali, Indonesia
- Deadly flooding in South Sudan
Storm Boris and Beyond
The legacy of Storm Boris in September 2024 still looms large. The storm triggered once-in-a-century floods across central and eastern Europe, displacing tens of thousands. Yet experts warn such rare disasters are now likely to occur more often than statistics once suggested.
“A ‘century event’ happened – but statistics show extreme events may become more frequent,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO Director of Hydrology.
Himalayan and Amazon Disruptions
Other examples of climate-driven disruption include:
- Himalayan regions (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir): Early and extreme monsoon rains.
- Amazon Basin: Severe drought worsened by El Niño.
- North America, Mexico, southern Africa: Below-average rainfall, compounding water insecurity.
While El Niño contributed, WMO scientists stress that climate change is the primary driver of extreme droughts and floods worldwide.
A Connected World, A Broken Cycle
The WMO report found wetter-than-normal conditions in Africa’s Lake Victoria region, Kazakhstan, southern Russia, Pakistan, India, Iran, and northeastern China. At the same time, only one-third of the world’s river basins reported normal levels, underscoring widespread water cycle disruption.
Glaciers are retreating at alarming rates:
- In 2024, glaciers lost 450 gigatonnes of ice – equal to 180 million Olympic swimming pools.
- This added 1.2 mm to global sea levels, threatening hundreds of millions in coastal regions.
“2024 was the third straight year with widespread glacial loss,” Ms. Saulo said, warning of growing flood risks worldwide.
The Urgent Need for Data
The WMO emphasized that better monitoring of streamflow, groundwater, soil moisture, and water quality is essential. Many regions remain critically under-monitored, leaving governments and communities unprepared for worsening crises.
