State of Climate Services Report 2021: WMO | 08 Oct 2021

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 (22^nd 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Source: DTE