Climate change wreaking havoc on world's water cycle: UN

"The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a report released on Thursday that the global water cycle was becoming ever more unpredictable, with shrinking glaciers, droughts, unbalanced river basins and severe floods wreaking havoc. The world's water resources are under growing pressure and, at the same time, more extreme water-related hazards are having an increasing impact on lives and livelihoods, WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement accompanying the release of the annual State of Global Water Resources report."

"The international group of scientists assessed freshwater availability and water storage across the world, including lakes, river flow, groundwater, soil moisture, snow cover and ice melt. Last year was the hottest on record, leading to prolonged droughts in northern parts of South America, the Amazon Basin and Southern Africa. Parts of Central Africa, Europe and Asia, meanwhile, were dealing with wetter weather than usual, being hit with devastating floods or deadly storms, said the report."

"Two-thirds have too much or too little water reflecting the increasingly erratic hydrological cycle, it said. While the world has natural cycles of climate variability from year to year, long-term trends outlined in the report indicate that the water cycle, at a global scale, is accelerating. Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO director of hydrology in the water and cryosphere division, said scientists feel it is increasingly difficult to predict. It's more erratic"

Global water cycle is becoming increasingly unpredictable, with shrinking glaciers, unbalanced river basins and severe floods. World's water resources face growing pressure while extreme water-related hazards increasingly impact lives and livelihoods. Scientists assessed freshwater availability and storage across lakes, river flow, groundwater, soil moisture, snow cover and ice melt. Last year was the hottest on record, causing prolonged droughts in northern South America, the Amazon Basin and Southern Africa. Parts of Central Africa, Europe and Asia experienced unusually wet conditions with devastating floods and deadly storms. Two-thirds of global river basins have either too much or too little water, and the water cycle is accelerating, making predictions more difficult.

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