Last year, Earth experienced its hottest year on record − for the fourth year in a row. Rising temperatures are changing the way water moves around our planet, wreaking havoc on the water cycle.

The 2024 Global Water Monitor Report released today shows how these changes are driving extreme events around the world. Our international team of researchers used data from thousands of ground stations and satellites to analyse real-time information on weather and water underground, in rivers and in water bodies.

We found rainfall records are being broken with increasing regularity. For example, record-high monthly rainfall totals were achieved 27% more frequently in 2024 than at the start of this century. Record-lows were 38% more frequent.

Water-related disasters caused more than 8,700 deaths and displaced 40 million people in 2024, with associated economic losses topping US$550 billion (A$885 billion). The number and scale of extreme weather events will continue to grow, as we continue pump greenhouse gases into an already overheated atmosphere. The right time to act on climate change was about 40 years ago, but it’s not too late to make a big difference to our future.

Warmer air can hold more moisture; that’s how your clothes dryer works. The paradoxical consequence is that this makes both droughts and floods worse.

When it doesn’t rain, the warmer and drier air dries everything out faster, deepening droughts. When it rains, the........

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