Science Editorial – The global water cycle experienced new climate extremes and water-related disasters last year They caused the death of more than 8,700 people, displaced 40 million and caused economic losses of more than $550,000 million.
The World Water Monitor report, in which an international team of researchers participates, indicates that in 2024 there will be “fierce floods and crippling droughts.”
Last year was the hottest on record and rising temperatures are changing the way water moves around the planet, “wreaking havoc” on the water cycle, indicates the report, led by the National University of Australia (ANU).
The most damaging water-related disasters of 2024 were flash floods, river flooding, droughts, tropical cyclones and landslides.
Global warming contributed to “downpours become heavier and storms move more slowly, as demonstrated by deadly flash floods in Europe, Asia and Brazil”said the director of the report Albert van Dijk, of the ANU, in a statement.
The expert cited, among others, the sudden floods in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with more than a thousand deaths, or the dana last October in Spain, which left 232 dead and more than 500 liters per square meter in eight hours.
In addition to the floods in Brazil, which caused more than 80 deaths, and the monsoon rains in Bangladesh, with the release of dams in August, which affected 5.8 million people and destroyed at least one million tons of rice.
More and more rainfall records are being broken and in 2024 monthly record highs were reached 27% more frequently than at the beginning of this century, while daily rainfall records were reached 52% more frequently.
1/18 | DANA in Spain: the shocking images of the floods in Valencia that have left dozens of dead. A woman is transported by ambulance after being rescued from floods in Valencia, Spain. – Alberto Saiz
Historic rainfall lows were 38% more frequent, “so we are seeing worse extremes on both sides,” Van Dijk said in the note.
Additionally, rising sea surface temperatures intensified tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon Basin and southern Africa.
The drop in river levels was record high in the Amazon basin, one of the most important ecosystems on Earth, cutting off transportation routes and disrupting hydroelectric power generation.
Wildfires sparked by hot, dry weather burned more than 52,000 square kilometers in September alone, releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases.
In southern Africa, a severe drought reduced maize production by more than 50% and left 30 million people short of food, farmers were forced to cull livestock as pastures dried out, and hydroelectric production was reduced. , with widespread blackouts.
The expert emphasized that it is necessary to prepare and adapt to “inevitably more serious” extreme phenomena.
As measures, he cited strengthening flood defenses, developing more drought-resistant food production and water supplies, and improving early warning systems.
Water – he recalled – “is our most important resource, and its extremes – floods and droughts – are one of the greatest threats we face.”
The World Water Monitor report is a collaboration between institutions around the world in which various public and private organizations participate.
To do this, the research team used data from thousands of ground stations and satellites in orbit around the Earth that offer information, almost in real time, on fundamental water variables, such as precipitation, soil humidity, river flow and floods.