Record temperatures continue pushed the global water cycle to “new climate extremes”, according to Global Water Monitor Report 2024. The document, produced by an international consortium led by researchers from the Australian National University, says these climate anomalies have caused devastating floods and droughts that have resulted in more than 8,700 deaths, the displacement of 40 million people and economic losses of more than $550 billion.
The report was carried out by an international team and led by ANU Professor Albert van Dijk. He reveals that it is 2024 the hottest year so far for almost 4 billion people in 111 countries, and that air temperatures above the Earth’s surface were 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than documented at the beginning of the century and 2.2 degrees Celsius higher than at the beginning of the industrial revolution.
Van Dijk claims water systems around the world were affected. “From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these severe climate variations are affecting lives, livelihoods and entire ecosystems. Water is our most important resource, and its extreme conditions are among 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 critical water variables, including rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture and flooding.
“We discovered that rainfall records are being broken more and more often. For example, record monthly rainfall totals were achieved 27 percent more often in 2024 than at the beginning of this century, while daily records fell 52 percent more often. Record lows were 38 percent more frequent, so we see worse extremes on both sides,” says Van Dijk.
The research says that as a result, sea surface temperatures have risen, intensifying tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon basin and southern Africa. Global warming has favored the formation of slower storms in Europe, Asia and Brazil, exposing some regions — such as Valencia, Spain — to extremely high levels of rain. Widespread flash floods occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while rising levels of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China damaged rice crops.
“In Bangladesh, heavy monsoon rains and dam releases have affected more than 5.8 million people and destroyed at least one million tons of rice. In the Amazon Basin, forest fires caused by hot, dry weather devastated more than 52,000 square kilometers in September alone, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases,” says Van Dijk.
The study adds that changes in the water cycle have exacerbated food shortages, disrupted shipping routes and disrupted hydropower production in some regions. “We must prepare and adapt to inevitably 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 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, but the World Meteorological Organization has pointed out that current efforts are insufficient. The WMO estimates that there is an 80 percent chance that the average global temperature will again exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius 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 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 per year.
António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, said that “we are teetering on a planetary wire. Either leaders close the emissions gap or we are hurtling towards climate disaster, with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most. The countdown to action has begun.”
This story originally appeared on Wired in Spanish and it was translated from Spanish.