DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterScarcity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterScarcity</span></a> on the Rise: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Rivers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Rivers</span></a> Drying at Record Rates</p><p>by Vivek SainiVivek Saini, October 8, 2024</p><p>"Rivers worldwide are drying up at the fastest rate in 30 years, posing a critical threat to ecosystems, agriculture, and human populations. In 2023, unprecedented heatwaves, prolonged droughts, and erratic rainfall patterns resulted in the most severe year of water depletion in three decades, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports. This alarming phenomenon is a direct consequence of climate change, worsened by unsustainable human activities, raising the spectre of widespread water scarcity.</p><p>A Crisis Accelerating: Rivers Drying at Record Rates</p><p>"The world’s rivers, crucial lifelines for billions of people, have shown alarming signs of depletion, with some drying up completely. The WMO’s recent State of the Global Climate report revealed that rivers in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia experienced their lowest levels since the early 1990s. Rivers like the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Yangtze" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Yangtze</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AmazonRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmazonRiver</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Danube" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Danube</span></a> can no longer support the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystems" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecosystems</span></a> and communities that depend on them for agriculture, drinking water, and transport.</p><p>"The impact of climate change, marked by rising global temperatures, has played a significant role in this crisis. The warming of the Earth’s surface increases the evaporation rate from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, intensifying water loss. Regions already prone to droughts, such as the Middle East, parts of Africa, and southern Europe, face even more severe shortages due to intensified drought cycles. In 2023 alone, the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, saw record-low water levels, which crippled shipping routes and threatened agricultural output in countries like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Hungary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hungary</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Romania" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Romania</span></a>. </p><p>"This drying trend is not limited to one region. The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ColoradoRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ColoradoRiver</span></a> continues to shrink in the United States, causing severe <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterShortages" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterShortages</span></a> for millions in states like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Arizona" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arizona</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nevada" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nevada</span></a>. Similar trends have been observed in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndusRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndusRiver</span></a> in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SouthAsia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SouthAsia</span></a>, which supports millions of people in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Pakistan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pakistan</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/India" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>India</span></a>. These drying rivers are a wake-up call for the global community to address water conservation and management issues before irreversible damage occurs​."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://climatefactchecks.org/water-scarcity-on-the-rise-rivers-drying-at-record-rates/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">climatefactchecks.org/water-sc</span><span class="invisible">arcity-on-the-rise-rivers-drying-at-record-rates/</span></a> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateCrisis</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a></p>