2023 saw record-setting highs with regards to planetary temperatures. Now a new UN weather agency report indicates that 2023 also had record-lows in terms of planetary river flows. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:002023 saw record-setting highs with regards to planetary temperatures.
00:04Now a new UN weather agency report indicates that 2023 also had record lows
00:09in terms of planetary river flows. The report outlines the droughts in the Americas led to
00:14the Mississippi and Amazon River basins having record low levels in 2023.
00:19This is the World Meteorological Organization's Director General,
00:23Celeste Saulo. She says that our planet's water cycle is the most telling indicator
00:27of our planet's climate distress.
00:292023 was the driest year for global rivers in 33 years.
00:36Second, glaciers around the world lost most water in 50 years, in the last 50 years.
00:44Third, the water cycle is becoming more erratic.
00:48The group also warned that while river flows at the moment are quite high,
00:51as the glaciers that feed these flows disappear, as they are currently at yet
00:54another record-setting pace, these river flows will disappear as well.
00:58If the glacier disappears, that changes completely the hydrological regime.
01:02It changes completely the conditions for ecosystems.
01:05It changes completely the availability of water for farmers, etc.
01:10The report indicated that some 50 percent of global catchment areas
01:13had reduced water availability in 2023.