• State of Global Water Resources 2022 report was recently released by World Meteorological Organization.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• The volume of water flowing through the rivers was lower than the normal.
  • In 2022, over 50 per cent of the global catchment areas experienced deviations from normal river discharge conditions.

AWT covers the Third Pole, which includes the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayas, the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs and the Tien Shan Mountains.

• Anomalies in soil moisture and evapotranspiration also matched the deviations noted in river discharge conditions.
• The effect on the hydrological cycle are leading to droughts and extreme rainfall events and the erratic water cycles unleashed widespread disruption, burdening livelihoods and economies.
• The ongoing melting of snow, ice and glaciers compounded the threat, exacerbating the risk of extreme weather events such as floods.
• These events cast long-term consequences on the water security of millions.
• Nearly four billion people are already experiencing severe water scarcity for at least a month every year.
• The Asian Water Tower (AWT), the world’s largest reservoir of ice and snow after the Arctic and Antarctic regions, saw significant glacial melting in 2022.
  • This altered the natural downward flow of major rivers — the Indus, Amu Darya, Yangtze and Yellow River — in the region.
• Recommendation-
  • The report called for enhanced data sharing to enable meaningful early warnings and more coordinated water management policies that are integral to climate action.

ABOUT WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO)

• The World Meteorological Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation and specialised agency of the United Nations.
• It was set up in 1950, originating from the International Meteorological Organisation (IMO).
• Its mandate spans issues pertaining to weather, climate, and water resources.
• Membership- 187Members states and 6 member Territories
• Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
• WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
• It handles international cooperation and coordination on the state of the Earth’s atmosphere.