Record temperatures continue The year pushed the global water cycle to “new climate extremes”, according to the Global Water Monitor 2024 report. The document, produced by an international consortium led by Australian National University researchers, says these climate anomalies have caused devastating floods and droughts that have killed more than 8,700 people, displaced 40 million people and cost more than $550 billion. It is stated that economic losses have occurred.
The report was carried out by an international team led by ANU Professor Albert van Dijk. It found that 2024 was the warmest year ever for nearly 4 billion people in 111 countries, with surface temperatures 1.2°C warmer than recorded at the beginning of this century and 2.2°C warmer than at the start of 2024. It’s clear. industrial revolution.
Van Dijk claims that water systems around the world have been affected. “From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these severe climate changes will impact lives, livelihoods, and entire ecosystems. Water is our most important resource, and its extreme conditions “It’s one of the biggest threats we face,” he says.
The report’s authors analyzed data from thousands of ground and satellite stations that collect near real-time information on key water variables such as rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture, and flooding.
“We found that rainfall records are being broken regularly; for example, in 2024, record monthly rainfall totals were 27% more frequent than at the beginning of the century; “Daily rainfall records have increased by 52%. The frequency of record lows has increased by 38%, so we can see that both extremes are getting worse,” Van Dijk said.
As a result, sea surface temperatures have risen, leading to more tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon basin and southern Africa, according to the study. Global warming has led to slow-moving storms across Europe, Asia and Brazil, and very high levels of rain in some areas, such as Valencia, Spain. Massive flash floods have occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and rising water levels in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China have damaged rice crops.
“In Bangladesh, heavy monsoon rains and water releases from dams affected more than 5.8 million people and wiped out at least 1 million tons of rice.In the Amazon basin, forest fires caused by hot, dry weather “Over 52,000 square kilometers were destroyed and large amounts of greenhouse gases were released,” van Dijk said.
The study added that changes in the water cycle have exacerbated food shortages, disrupted transport routes and disrupted hydropower generation in some areas. “We will inevitably need to prepare for and adapt to more severe extreme events. That means adopting stronger flood defenses, developing new food production systems and developing more drought-resistant water supply networks. “That could mean something,” Van Dijk suggests.
World leaders have pledged to implement measures and policies to keep global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, but the World Meteorological Organization says current efforts are insufficient. points out. The WMO estimates that there is an 80% chance that global average temperatures will rise again by 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels within at least one of the next five years. The projections suggest humanity is far from achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and raise new concerns about the progress of climate change.
Securing financial resources is also an issue. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that the funding gap for climate change adaptation is between $194 billion and $366 billion annually.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “We are walking a global tightrope: Either our leaders close the emissions gap, or we hurtle towards climate disaster, leaving the poorest and the poorest.” Either the most vulnerable will suffer the most. The countdown to action is on.”
This story was originally spanish wired Translated from Spanish.
(Tag translation) Water
