GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) — The World Meteorological Organization says the planet’s hydrological cycle is increasingly out of balance because of climate change.
“We are seeing much heavier precipitation episodes and flooding, and at the opposite extreme, more evaporation, dry soils and more intense droughts,” secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
It showed that more than 50 percent of global catchment areas experienced deviations from normal river discharge conditions, with most of them drier than normal, citing China’s Yangtze River as an example.
On the other extreme, it cited floods in Pakistan that killed more than 1,700 people last year.
“Far too little is known about the true state of the world’s fresh-water resources. We cannot manage what we do not measure,” the WMO said.
