Recent data from the Brazilian Geological Survey indicates that the Madeira River in the Amazon basin has plummeted to its lowest water level on record. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently released its Global Water Resources Report on October 7, 2023, revealing that river levels worldwide have not been this low in over 30 years. The report points to significant droughts impacting regions across the southern United States, Central America, and various South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay over the past year. WMO experts noted that the extent of drought-affected areas is unprecedented in 33 years, leaving approximately 3.6 billion people facing water shortages.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the WMO attributes the drastic decline in river levels to record-high temperatures in 2023. Severe drought conditions have struck North America, Central America, and South America, resulting in historic lows for major rivers like the Mississippi and the Amazon.

For the fifth consecutive year, global river flows have remained below normal, significantly reducing water availability for households, agriculture, and ecosystems. Furthermore, 2023 has seen the second consecutive year of net ice loss across all global glacier regions, with glacier melt reaching levels not witnessed in the past 50 years. Preliminary data suggests that the volume of water lost from glaciers worldwide between September 2022 and August 2023 exceeded 600 billion tons, marking this as the most severe glacier melt event ever recorded. This situation poses a long-term threat to the water security for millions globally.

The WMO estimates that around 3.6 billion people experience water scarcity for at least one month each year, a figure projected to rise to 5 billion by 2050.

A study published in May 2023 in the journal Nature revealed that not only was the summer of 2023 the hottest on record for the Northern Hemisphere, but it was also the warmest summer in nearly 2,000 years, excluding this year.

The ongoing rise in global temperatures has intensified long-term droughts, pushing many regions into extreme weather events, including both droughts and floods. The report cites the catastrophic floods in Libya in September 2023, where the collapse of two dams resulted in over 11,000 fatalities and affected 22% of the country’s population. In contrast, areas like the southern United States, Central America, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and Brazil have seen severe droughts leading to significant economic losses, with Argentina’s GDP declining by 3% directly as a result.