Record temperatures last year pushed the global water cycle to “new climate extremes,” report says Global Water Monitor 2024supported by the Australian National University (ANU). The document indicates that these climatic anomalies caused devastating floods and droughts that caused more than 8,700 deaths, the displacement of 40 million people and economic losses exceeding 550,000 million dollars.
The report was prepared by an international team of researchers and was led by Albert van Dijk, a professor at the ANU. It reveals that 2024 was the warmest year yet for nearly 4 billion people in 111 countries. It indicates that air temperatures over the Earth’s surface were 1.2 °C higher than those documented at the beginning of the century and 2.2 °C higher than at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Van Dijk assures that The water systems of the entire planet were the most affected by the phenomenon. “From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these severe climate variations affect lives, livelihoods and entire ecosystems. “Water is our most important resource and its extreme conditions are among the greatest threats we face,” he warns.
The authors analyzed data from thousands of ground and satellite stations that collect near real-time information on critical water variables, including rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture, and floods.
“We have observed that rainfall records are being broken with increasing regularity. In 2024, monthly rainfall maximums were 27% more frequent than at the beginning of the century and minimum rainfall was 38% more common,” explains the work leader.
Extreme floods and droughts
The investigation explains that, as a result, sea surface temperatures intensified tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon basin and southern Africa. Global warming favored the formation of slower-moving storms in Europe, Asia and Brazil. Widespread flash flooding occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while rising levels in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China damaged rice crops.
“In Bangladesh, heavy monsoon rains and the release of water from dams affected more than 5.8 million people and at least one million tons of rice were removed. In the Amazon basin, forest fires caused by the hot, dry climate devastated more than 52,000 square kilometers in September alone, releasing enormous amounts of greenhouse gases,” adds the ANU professor.
The study adds that changes in the water cycle intensified food shortages, damaged shipping routes and disrupted hydroelectric power generation in some regions. “We need to prepare and adapt to inevitably more severe extreme events. That may mean adopting stronger flood defenses, developing new food production systems and more drought-resistant water supply networks,” van Dijk suggests.
World leaders have committed to implementing measures and policies to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era by the end of the century. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has indicated that current efforts in this regard are insufficient. It estimates that there is an 80% chance that the planet’s average temperature will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years. The projection suggests that humanity is far from meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and raises new concerns about the advance of climate change.
Obtaining economic resources is another pending issue. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that the funding gap for climate change adaptation is between $194 billion and $366 billion annually.
António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, has said that “we are teetering on a planetary tightrope. Either leaders close the emissions gap or we are hurtling towards a climate disasterwith the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most. The countdown to take action has begun.”
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