Satellites Show Climate Change Thinning Rivers, Erasing Glaciers
Climate change is distorting rain patterns across the planet, leading to drought and floods, while rising temperatures are causing glaciers to melt, according to the first ever comprehensive review of water resources by the World Meteorological Organization. The WMO says it aims to publish global water reports annually from now on in response to calls for more accurate data in an era of growing demand and limited supplies.
The State of Global Water Resources report for 2021, released on Tuesday, analyzes the effects that higher temperatures are having on the planet's freshwater bodies. Global temperatures are now 1.1C higher than in pre-industrial times, and last year was one of the seven hottest years on record.
“The impacts of climate change are often felt through water — more intense and frequent droughts, more extreme flooding, more erratic seasonal rainfall and accelerated melting of glaciers,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement. All these events have “cascading effects on economies, ecosystems and all aspects of our daily lives.”
About three-quarters of all natural disasters between 2001 and 2018 were water related, according to UN-Water, which coordinates the United Nations' work on water and sanitation. At the same time, 3.6 billion people, almost half of the global population, face inadequate access to water for at least a month every year — and that number is expected to increase to over 5 billion by mid-century.
Inconsistent measurements and a lack of data collected on the ground made it hard to understand some of the effects that climate change is having on water systems, the WMO said. Researchers filled these gaps partly with modeled data and with information from satellites in
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