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Global water cycle disruption and freshwater decline

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2026-09-17 08:26 UTC → 2026-09-17 09:29 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported that the global water cycle is becoming increasingly erratic and unpredictable, driven by fossil fuel pollution and extreme temperatures. Data indicates a decade-long decline in freshwater storage across rivers, lakes, aquifers, ice, snow, and soils, with a continuous decline noted since approximately 2016. Reports highlight that 2025 was one of the warmest years on record, leading to significant glacier shrinkage, with an estimated loss of 1,400 gigatonnes of water mass between 2023 and 2025. This loss represents roughly one-third of the total freshwater extracted globally in a single year. This warming has contributed to extreme swings between floods and droughts. In 2025, 42% of the world experienced storage levels below historical norms, and nearly two-thirds of monitored wells showed conditions deviating from historical patterns. Notably, 2025 was among the driest periods for global rivers in the last 35 years, significantly impacting North America, South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. While some regions like parts of South Asia experienced excess water, more than one-third of global river basins saw below-normal flows. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo expressed concern over the depletion of ‘slow reserves’ such as glaciers and groundwater, describing these as the planet’s ‘savings account’ that traditionally buffers against droughts, but warned they are now being rapidly exhausted. She cautioned that as these reserves diminish, droughts are increasingly likely to transition directly into acute water crises.

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