The World Meteorological Organization’s annual State of Global Water Resources Report, covering 2025, warns that the planet’s water cycle is becoming “more erratic and unpredictable” as a result of fossil fuel pollution. The agency’s analysis, based on satellite data, shows a steady decline in freshwater stored in rivers, lakes, aquifers, ice, snow and soils.
Declining Freshwater Storage
In 2025, 42% of the world’s land area had water‑storage levels below historical norms. Wayne Jenkinson, the WMO’s director of hydrology and cryosphere, said the trend is clear: “Water stored on land has been declining globally since around 2016.”
Rivers and Groundwater Under Stress
Last year ranked among the driest for global rivers in the past 35 years, affecting large parts of North America, South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. While some regions, such as parts of South‑East Asia and Australia, saw above‑average flows in 2025, a greater share of rivers experienced below‑average levels.
Groundwater is also suffering; two‑thirds of monitored wells reported conditions outside historical norms, with deficits deepening compared with 2024.
Glacier Loss Accelerates
All monitored frozen regions lost glacier mass in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive year of widespread loss. Between 2023 and 2025, glaciers shed enough water to fill roughly 560 million Olympic‑sized swimming pools, according to the report.
Glacier melt contributes to flood risk, rising sea levels and threatens water security for the two billion people who depend on meltwater.
Human Impacts and Future Risks
The report links the shifting water cycle to more extreme weather. The past five years have each seen record‑breaking floods and droughts, leaving many communities with little time to recover between events.
Asia and Africa bore the brunt of the most severe events and loss of life, with countries such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo experiencing major flooding, while parts of Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East endured severe drought.
In the United States, catastrophic flooding in Texas’s Hill Country in July 2025 claimed more than 130 lives, and Hurricane Melissa caused over 90 deaths across Caribbean islands, including Jamaica and Haiti.
Looking Ahead
WMO Secretary‑General Celeste Saulo warned that a strengthening El Niño could heighten drought risk in some regions and increase flooding in others. The agency emphasized the need to close critical data gaps, especially in the most vulnerable regions of Asia and Africa, noting that “we cannot manage what we do not measure.”
Experts such as Mattia Saccò of Curtin University echo the urgency, describing the trends as “alarming” and calling for immediate action to protect the planet’s water resources.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
