Trapped sediment robs dams of storage capacity. Storage loss by 2050 will equal the combined yearly water use of Canada, China, France, India and Indonesia, says a U.N. University report.
As if climate change and population growth across many parts of the globe were not enough to push fresh water supplies to the limit, the United Nations says that many large lakes are filling so fast with sediment that they are losing much of their capacity to store water.
Some 50,000 large dams worldwide are being robbed of as much as 19% of their combined original storage capacity, and total losses could reach 28% by mid-century, according to a U.N. University report on Wednesday.
Climate scientists have warned for decades about bleaching of coral reefs, which are nurseries for commercial fisheries.
This year and next mark the countdown to a 2025 deadline for governments to strengthen their carbon-cutting plans.
The France-based court was created to uphold the European Convention on Human Rights, which took effect in 1953.
Negotiators and officials aim to wrap up so that May's 77th World Health Assembly can consider a proposed text.
The chair of the talks called for optimism despite divisions among plastic-producing nations and those urging restraints.
The number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity has increased every year since 2019.
The group of organizations that reviewed the U.N. agency recommends several ways of strengthening its neutrality.
The wars in Europe and the Middle East, climate change and soaring national debts hung over the annual talks.
