Planet’s Water Reserves Are Depleting, UN Weather Agency Warns

The WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report highlights a grim reality: the buffers that historically shielded humanity from short-term droughts are failing. Since the mid-2010s, total stored water—encompassing lakes, rivers, ice, and soil moisture—has consistently fallen. Last year marked the fourth consecutive period of widespread glacier loss, with recent melting equivalent to 560 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

River discharge data reinforces this instability, as 2025 ranked among the driest years in over three decades. With below-normal flows affecting a third of the global basin area, the number of river systems operating under normal conditions has remained in the minority for seven straight years. This volatility is further compounded by a warming climate and a persistent El Niño phase, which experts expect to drive extreme weather through early 2027.

The human cost is mounting, particularly in Asia and Africa, which account for over 80% of deaths associated with hydrological disasters. While some regions, such as parts of South America and Southern Africa, saw localized water storage recovery, the overall trend points toward a structural crisis. Saulo urged nations to prioritize hydrological monitoring infrastructure and shift management policies to address the rapid erosion of these critical natural buffers.