Global water cycle 'spinning out of balance': UN meteorological agency

"We are seeing much heavier precipitation episodes and flooding. And at the opposite extreme, more evaporation, dry soils and more intense droughts," said World Meteorological Organization secretary-general Petteri Taalas in a statement as the United Nations agency released its state of global water resources report for 2022.

It showed that more than 50 per cent 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 freshwater resources. We cannot manage what we do not measure," the WMO said in a statement.

The water report is only the second such analysis done by the WMO and includes data from large river basins, including river discharge, groundwater, evaporation, soil moisture and reservoir inflow.