Overview

• 2024 marked the sixth straight year of clear imbalance in river discharge, linked to record global heat and an El Niño that disrupted major basins.
• Glaciers lost an estimated 450 gigatonnes of ice last year, adding about 1.2 millimetres to sea level, with record losses in Scandinavia, Svalbard and North Asia and many small-glacier regions nearing “peak water.”
• Groundwater data from nearly 40,000 wells in 47 countries showed fewer than four in ten at normal levels, while most major lakes recorded unusually warm surface temperatures that threaten water quality.
• The year brought concurrent extremes: deepening drought in the Amazon and southern Africa, extensive flooding across West and Central Africa, Europe’s most widespread flooding since 2013, and deadly storms and cyclones across Asia and the Pacific.
• WMO urges rapid investment in monitoring, early warnings and water management, warning that billions already face seasonal water shortages and the world remains off track on universal water and sanitation goals.