Last year, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades, according to a new U.N. report, which warns that heat and drought are sapping vital waterways.
Last year, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades, according to a new U.N. report, which warns that heat and drought are sapping vital waterways.
Warming is fueling both heavier rainfall and more intense drought globally. As the planet heats up, “we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water,” said Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the U.N. World Meteorological Organization, which authored the new report.
In 2023, the hottest year on record, the Mississippi River and Amazon River basins were at all-time lows, while the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong rivers, which all have their headwaters in the Himalayas, were also unusually dry. Across nearly half the globe, rivers were drier than normal.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Image: Dry stretches along the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon River, in October 2023. (Credit: NASA)
