Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 18, 2025 Climate and environment
Water is the source of life on Earth, but today it is increasingly becoming the cause of natural disasters. According to a report released Thursday by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), climate change is increasing pressure on the planet's water resources, triggering disasters affecting millions of people worldwide.
A year of record heat and devastating floods
Last year was the hottest in 175 years of record-keeping, with the average surface temperature of the Earth exceeding pre-industrial levels by 1.55 degrees Celsius.
The anomaly directly affects the water cycle: warm air holds more moisture, leading to more intense precipitation and, as a result, devastating floods.
"Water disasters continue to take a heavy toll this year," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. "Flooding in Pakistan and South Sudan, and deadly downpours in Bali, are just part of the alarming picture. Unfortunately, there's no end in sight to this trend."
Storm Boris and the "centennial" floods
In September 2024, Central and Eastern Europe were hit by the powerful storm Boris, causing flash floods and the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. In the Czech Republic, river levels reached levels that, statistically, would only occur once in a century. As Stefan Uhlenbruck, Director of the WMO's Hydrology Division, notes, such "century-scale" events are becoming increasingly common.
Monsoons off schedule and drought in the Amazon
Water cycle instability is also evident in other regions. In India, the monsoon arrived earlier than usual this year, bringing heavy rains to the states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the Amazon basin, northwest Mexico, and southern Africa experienced severe drought, exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon.
"El Niño certainly played a role, but scientific evidence shows that it is climate change and rising temperatures that lead to extreme events – both droughts and floods," Saulo explained.
Melting glaciers: a global threat
One of the most alarming trends on the planet is the rapid disappearance of glaciers. In 2024, they lost 450 gigatons of ice—a volume equivalent to 180 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. This added 1.2 mm to global sea levels, increasing the risk of coastal flooding.
Everything is interconnected: from the Arctic to Asia
The report emphasizes that the water cycle is a closed global system.
"We're not dealing with localized problems," says WMO researcher Sulagna Mishra. "Melting glaciers in the Arctic influence monsoons in Asia, and hurricanes in the Pacific influence weather patterns around the world."
Against the backdrop of global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization is calling for urgent action: improved monitoring, data sharing on water flows, groundwater and its quality, as well as international cooperation and urgent investment in early warning systems.
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