Global Warming Threatens Planet’s Water Cycle

The record temperature is over pushed the global water cycle to “new climate extremes”. Global Water Monitor 2024 report. These climate anomalies have led to devastating floods and droughts that have killed more than 8,700 people, displaced 40 million people and caused more than $550 billion in economic losses, the paper, written by an international consortium led by Australian National University researchers, says.

The report was carried out by an international team and led by ANU Professor Albert van Dijk. It reveals that it is the year 2024 the hottest year so far, for nearly 4 billion people in 111 countries, and Earth’s surface temperature is 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than it was recorded at the turn of the century, and 2.2 degrees Celsius higher than the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Van Dijk claims that water systems around the world are affected. “From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these extreme climate changes are affecting lives, livelihoods and entire ecosystems. “Water is our most important resource, and its extreme conditions are one of the greatest threats we face.”

The report’s authors analyzed data from thousands of ground and satellite stations that collect near-real-time data on critical water variables, including rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture and flooding.

“We’ve seen rainfall records being broken with increasing regularity. For example, record monthly precipitation is 27 percent more frequent in 2024 than at the beginning of this century, and daily precipitation records are 52 percent more frequent. Record lows were 38 percent more frequent, so we see worse extremes on both sides,” says Van Dijk.

As a result, sea surface temperatures have risen, intensifying tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon basin and South Africa, the study shows. Global warming has helped produce slower-moving storms in Europe, Asia and Brazil, exposing some areas, such as Valencia in Spain, to extremely high levels of rainfall. Large-scale flooding has occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and rising water levels in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China have damaged rice crops.

“Heavy monsoon rains and dam releases in Bangladesh have affected more than 5.8 million people and destroyed at least 1 million tonnes of rice. In the Amazon Basin, forest fires Fueled by hot, dry weather, it destroyed more than 52,000 square kilometers in September alone and released large amounts of greenhouse gases,” says Van Dijk.

Changes in the water cycle have exacerbated food shortages, disrupted transportation routes and disrupted hydroelectricity production in some regions, the study adds. “Inevitably, we must prepare for and adapt to more severe extreme events. This could mean adopting stronger flood defences, developing new food production systems and more drought-resistant water supply networks,” suggests Van Dijk.

World leaders have pledged to implement measures and policies to prevent global warming from exceeding pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, but the World Meteorological Organization has said current efforts are insufficient. The World Trade Organization estimates that there is an 80 percent chance that average global temperatures will again exceed pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius in at least one of the next five years. The forecast shows humanity is far from meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and raises new concerns about the progress of climate change.

Securing financial resources is another challenge. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that the funding shortfall for climate change adaptation is between $194 billion and $366 billion annually.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that “we are walking on a planetary thread. Either leaders close the emissions gap or we are headed for a climate disaster where the poorest and most vulnerable suffer. The countdown to the action has begun.”

This story appeared first String in Spanish and translated from Spanish.