The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently presented its second report on the status of global water resources. According to this report, large parts of the world experienced drier conditions in 2022 than those recorded on average for the equivalent periods over the last 30 years.
"Nearly 40% of the territories examined were suffering from drier than normal conditions," said Professor Robert Reinecke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).
"This means that the flow rate of many rivers worldwide was significantly below what would normally be expected. Added to this, the levels of moisture in the soil were frequently indicative of the effects of the heat waves we have experienced while the need for greater use of water has resulted in the groundwater table becoming lower than in the reference period."
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Just as in the case of the River Po in Italy, the water levels of the Rhine fell dramatically over longer periods, with the associated consequences for river traffic. France suffered from insufficient precipitation, resulting in difficulties when it came to providing the cooling required by nuclear power plants. South America experienced severe drought conditions while, despite increasing precipitation, groundwater levels in the important Murray-Darling Basin in Australia continued to drop below normal.
https://library.wmo.int/records/item/68473-state-of-global-w...
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