Biodiversity & Environment
State of Climate Services Report 2021: WMO
- 08 Oct 2021
- 5 min read
Why in News
Recently, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released the State of Climate Services report 2021. It focuses on Terrestrial Water Storage.
- Earlier, on water day (22nd March), in a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), one in five children worldwide reside in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.
Key Points
- Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS):
- TWS is the sum of all water on the land surface and in the subsurface, i.e. surface water, soil moisture, snow and ice and groundwater.
- Water is a key prerequisite for human development. But only 0.5% of water on Earth is usable and available as freshwater.
- Water resources across the world are under tremendous pressure due to human and naturally-induced stressors.
- These include population growth, urbanisation and decreasing availability of freshwater.
- Extreme weather events too have been responsible for the pressure on water resources realised across sectors and regions.
- TWS is the sum of all water on the land surface and in the subsurface, i.e. surface water, soil moisture, snow and ice and groundwater.
- Global Scenario:
- TWS dropped at a rate of 1 cm per year in 20 years (2002-2021).
- The biggest losses have occurred in Antarctica and Greenland. But many highly populated, lower latitude locations have also experienced TWS losses.
- Indian Scenario:
- About:
- The TWS has been lost at a rate of at least 3 cm per year. In some regions, the loss has been over 4 cm per year too.
- India has recorded the highest loss in terrestrial water storage if the loss of water storage in Antarctica and Greenland is excluded.
- India is the ‘topmost hotspot of TWS loss’. The northern part of India has experienced the maximum loss within the country.
- Per Capita Availability:
- In India, per capita water availability is reducing due to an increase in population.
- The average annual per capita water availability has reduced to 1,545 cubic metres in 2011, from 1,816 cubic metres in 2001.
- It is projected to further decrease to 1,367 cubic metres in 2031, according to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- River Basins:
- Five of the 21 river basins in India are ‘absolute water scarce’ (per capita water availability below 500 cubic metres) according to the Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator.
- Five are ‘water scarce’ (per capita water availability below 1,000 cubic metres) and three are ‘water stressed’ (per capita water availability below 1,700 cubic metres).
- By 2050, six will become absolute water scarce, six will become water scarce and four will become water stressed, according to the State of India’s Environment in figures, 2020.
- The Falkenmark indicator is one of the most widely used indicators for assessing the stress on water. It relates the total freshwater resources with the total population in a country and indicates the pressure that population puts on water resources, including the needs for natural ecosystems.
- About:
- Recommendations:
- Investments Needed:
- Integrated Resources Water Management as a solution to better manage water stress, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
- In end-to-end drought and flood early warning systems in at-risk LDCs, including for drought warning in Africa and flood warning in Asia.
- Fill Capacity Gap:
- Fill the capacity gap in collecting data for basic hydrological variables which underpin climate services and early warning systems.
- Fill the gaps in data on country capacities for climate services in the water sector, especially for SIDS.
- Improve Interaction:
- Improve the interaction among national level stakeholders to co-develop and operationalize climate services with information users to better support adaptation in the water sector.
- There is also a pressing need for better monitoring and evaluation of socio-economic benefits, which will help to showcase best practices.
- Join the Water and Climate Coalition:
- Water and Climate Coalition is a platform for its members to partner on joint activities and implement solutions that address the gaps of operational water and climate challenges with a focus on data and information.
- Investments Needed:
Related Government Initiatives
