The world's rivers faced the driest year in three decades in 2023, the UN weather agency says

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency is reporting that 2023 was the driest year in more than three decades for the world's rivers, as the record-hot year underpinned a drying up of water flows and contributed to prolonged droughts in some places.

The World Meteorological Organization also says glaciers that feed rivers in many countries suffered the largest loss of mass in the last five decades, warning that ice melt can threaten long-term water security for millions of people globally.

“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, releasing the report on Monday.

She said rising temperatures had in part led the hydrological cycle to become “more erratic and unpredictable” in ways that can produce “either too much or too little water” through both droughts and floods.

The “State of Global Water Resources 2023” report covers rivers and also lakes, reservoirs, groundwater, soil moisture, terrestrial water storage, snow cover and glaciers, and the evaporation of water from land and plants.

The weather agency, citing figures from UN Water, says some 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water for at least one month a year — and that figure is expected to rise to 5 billion by 2050. WMO says 70% of all the water that humans draw from the hydrological systems goes into agriculture.

The world faced the hottest year on record in 2023, and the summer of this year was also the hottest summer ever — raising warning signs for a possible new annual record in 2024.

“In the (last) 33 years of data, we had never such a large area around the world which was under such dry conditions,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at WMO.

The report said the southern United States, Central America and South American countries Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay faced widespread drought conditions and “the lowest water levels ever observed in Amazon and in Lake Titicaca,” on the border between Peru and Bolivia.

The Mississippi River basin also experienced record-low water levels, the report said. WMO said half of the world faced dry river flow conditions last year.

The data for 2024 isn’t in yet, but Uhlenbrook said the extremely hot summer is “very likely” to translate into low river flows this year, and “in many parts of the world, we expect more water scarcity.”

Low-water conditions have had an impact on river navigation in places like Brazil and a food crisis in Zimbabwe and other parts of southern Africa this year.

WMO called for improvements in data collection and sharing to help clear up the real picture for water resources and help countries and communities take action in response.

Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of World Meteorological Organization (WMO), presents the WMO's State of Global Water Resources report during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Stefan Uhlenbrook, left, director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sits next to WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo as he presents the WMO's State of Global Water Resources report during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), presents the WMO's State of Global Water Resources report during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of World Meteorological Organization (WMO), presents the WMO's State of Global Water Resources report during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

FILE - Barges float in the Mississippi River as a portion of the riverbed is exposed, on Sept. 15, 2023, in St. Louis. The U.N. weather agency is reporting that 2023 was the driest year in more than three decades for the world's rivers, as the record-hot year underpinned a drying up of water flows and contributed to prolonged droughts in some places. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

The world's rivers faced the driest year in three decades in 2023, the UN weather agency says

The world's rivers faced the driest year in three decades in 2023, the UN weather agency says

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)