State of Global Climate Report 2023

About State of Global Water Resource Report:

• It is an annual report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since 2021.
• It offers a comprehensive and consistent overview of water resources worldwide.
• It is based on input from dozens of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other organizations and experts.
• Highlights of the 2023 Report:
  • The year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in 33 years.
  • The last five consecutive years have recorded widespread below-normal conditions for river flows, with reservoir inflows following a similar pattern. 
  • It notes that 2023 was also the second consecutive year in which all regions in the world with glaciers reported ice loss, the year in which “glaciers suffered the largest mass loss ever registered in 50 years.
• More than 600 gigatons (Gt) of water were lost across all glaciated regions of the world.
  • The report says 3.6 billion people currently face inadequate access to water at least one month a year, and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050.
  • The world is far off-track with Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.

Q1: What is the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)?

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the UN for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.

Source: 2023 driest year for global rivers in over three decades: WMO report