River flows around the world fell to record lows last year amid a record heatwave, jeopardizing water supplies in an era of rising demand, the United Nations weather agency said in a report. According to the State of Global Water Resources report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Monday, “global water supplies are under severe strain, with five consecutive years of below-normal river flows and reservoir inflows.” Prolonged droughts have reduced river flows in much of North, Central and South America, and the Mississippi and Amazon river basins saw record low water levels in 2023, the report said, based on 33 years of data. The Ganges and Mekong river basins also experienced drought conditions, the report said. Overall, 50 percent of global watersheds showed low levels, most of them in deficit and reducing water availability for agriculture and industry.

“Water is becoming the most telling indicator of climate malaise in our time, and yet we as a global society are not taking action to protect these supplies,” WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo told reporters at a press briefing in Geneva. She warned that water cycles are becoming increasingly unstable due to climate change and called for increased hydrological monitoring to track and respond to changes. Some 3.6 billion people do not have adequate access to water for at least one month of the year, according to meteorological agency UN-Water, and that number is expected to rise to 5 billion by 2050.