Daily Mains Question – GS 3 – 2nd July 2025
- TPP
- Jul 2
- 4 min read
Welcome to your daily Mains Model Answer — crafted to enhance your grasp of environmental dynamics and climate change impacts, as emphasized in GS Paper 1 and GS Paper 3. Today’s answer delves into the ways rising global temperatures are intensifying the Earth’s hydrological cycle, driving both extreme rainfall events and prolonged droughts worldwide.
This topic directly aligns with GS Paper 1 (Geography: Physical Geography — climate, water cycle, and disasters) and GS Paper 3 (Environment and Disaster Management). With climate change emerging as a defining challenge of the 21st century, understanding its cascading impact on natural cycles and water availability is critical for effective environmental governance, disaster preparedness, and sustainable development planning.
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QUESTION 1
Examine how rising global temperatures are intensifying the hydrological cycle, contributing to both extreme rainfall events and drought situations.
Answer: Climate change is significantly disrupting the Earth’s hydrological cycle, altering the manner and intensity with which water moves between the ground, oceans, and atmosphere. The 2024 Global Water Monitor Report—based on satellite and ground station data—has highlighted how these disruptions are driving both extreme precipitation and prolonged droughts, with substantial humanitarian and economic consequences. The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with global average temperatures rising by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, leading to unprecedented changes in global water patterns.
Understanding the Hydrological Cycle
The hydrological cycle (water cycle) is the continuous circulation of water in various forms—solid, liquid, and gas—across the Earth's surface, underground, and atmosphere. Major processes involved include:
Evaporation: Solar energy drives water from oceans, lakes, and soil into the atmosphere.
Transpiration: Plants release water vapour into the air.
Condensation and Precipitation: Water vapour condenses into clouds and returns as rain or snow.
Infiltration and Runoff: Water seeps into soil or flows over land into water bodies.
This cycle plays a vital role in regulating climate, sustaining ecosystems, and ensuring freshwater availability for all life forms.
Impact of Rising Global Temperatures on the Hydrological Cycle
1. Intensified Evaporation and Moisture Retention
Rising global temperatures increase evaporation rates from land and oceans.
For every 1°C rise in temperature, the atmosphere can hold 7% more water vapour (Clausius-Clapeyron relationship), intensifying the water cycle.
This leads to increased atmospheric moisture, which fuels more intense and prolonged storms.
2. Extreme Rainfall and Flooding
The enhanced moisture in the atmosphere leads to heavy precipitation events.
As per the 2024 report:
Monthly rainfall records were broken 27% more often than in 2000.
Daily rainfall records were surpassed 52% more frequently in 2024.
Such rainfall, when sudden and intense, leads to flash floods, urban flooding, and river overflows, especially in inadequately planned urban areas.
3. Increased Drought Risk
Higher evaporation causes soil moisture depletion, leading to dry and hardened soils.
When rainfall does occur, water runs off instead of percolating into the soil, exacerbating drought conditions.
The 2024 report recorded:
38% more record-dry months globally compared to the 1995–2005 baseline.
Widespread reduction in terrestrial water storage (TWS) across most dry regions, except parts of Africa.
4. Regional Variability and Imbalances
Wet regions (e.g., Sahel, Europe) are becoming wetter, increasing flood risk.
Dry regions (e.g., southern Africa, northern South America, parts of Asia) face intensified droughts.
This reflects the “wet gets wetter, dry gets drier” phenomenon, a known outcome of climate-induced hydrological changes.
5. Long-Term Trends and Scientific Evidence
A 2022 study in Nature revealed that the global water cycle has intensified by up to 7.4% since 1970, surpassing earlier model projections of 2–4%.
The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (2021) confirmed that climate change will cause long-term alterations in the water cycle, resulting in more frequent and severe hydrological extremes.
Consequences of Intensified Hydrological Extremes
In 2024 alone, water-related disasters:
Caused over 8,700 fatalities
Displaced 40 million people
Incurred $550 billion in economic losses globally
Rising water insecurity threatens agriculture, health, sanitation, and energy systems.
Glacier melt and changing monsoon patterns further complicate water availability in many parts of the world, including South Asia.
Conclusion
The intensification of the hydrological cycle due to rising global temperatures is now a scientifically observed and measured reality, with profound socio-economic and ecological impacts. The 2024 data serves as a stark reminder of the urgency with which the global community must approach climate adaptation, water management, and emission reductions. As the planet edges closer to the critical 2°C warming threshold, a failure to stabilize the climate system will likely result in even more unpredictable and extreme water-related events, jeopardizing development and security worldwide.
Way Forward
Strengthening early warning systems and disaster resilience.
Promoting integrated water resource management (IWRM).
Enhancing climate-resilient infrastructure in vulnerable regions.
Prioritizing data sharing and transboundary cooperation for water governance.
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