2025 was among driest years on record for world’s rivers, study finds
Analysis of global resources reveals depletion in world’s water savings bank to 42% below normal levels last year
TL;DR
- 2025 was one of the driest years on record for rivers globally, with freshwater storage 42% below normal.
- The climate crisis is causing extreme weather and a more erratic water cycle, leading to 'weather whiplash' events.
- Global terrestrial water storage has been in decline since 2014-16, a persistent decade-long signal.
- Glaciers lost 400 gigatons of ice mass in 2025, contributing 1.1mm to global sea levels.
- Record-low water levels in rivers have caused energy crises (Danube) and threatened water supplies (Mississippi, Nile, Niger, Zambezi).
- Pollution, overexploitation, and climate-induced droughts are major threats to river systems globally.
- In England, no river is in good ecological or chemical health due to sewage, agricultural pollution, and over-abstraction.
- The number of river basins with 'normal' conditions has been in a clear minority for seven consecutive years.