Overview
- Only about one-third of river basins showed normal conditions in 2024, marking a sixth straight year of pronounced imbalance with roughly two-thirds running too high or too low.
- 2024 was the hottest year on record at about 1.5°C above pre‑industrial levels, with El Niño amplifying evaporation, downpours and drying that intensified extremes.
- Global glaciers lost roughly 450 gigatonnes of ice in 2024, adding about 1.2 millimetres to sea level and threatening future supplies in meltwater‑dependent regions.
- Regional contrasts were stark, with severe drought in the Amazon and southern Africa while Europe, central and west Africa and parts of Asia saw major floods; in Europe, one-third of rivers exceeded flood thresholds with more than 335 deaths and about €18 billion in damage.
- Water insecurity remains widespread, as an estimated 3.6 billion people lacked sufficient water for at least one month in 2024, a figure the UN projects could reach five billion by 2050.