Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim:

[RestoreGore]

Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2465960.ece

Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim
By Kathy Marks in Sydney

Published: 20 April 2007

Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.

The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, a hardened climate-change sceptic, delivered dire tidings to the nation's farmers yesterday. Unless there is significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, irrigation will be banned in the principal agricultural area. Crops such as rice, cotton and wine grapes will fail, citrus, olive and almond trees will die, along with livestock.

A ban on irrigation, which would remain in place until May next year, spells possible ruin for thousands of farmers, already debt-laden and in despair after six straight years of drought.

End of excerpt.

~~~~
But let's continue to SIT and waste time DEBATING whether or not this is real.

[silverweb]

1. *sigh*

WHY aren't they building wave/wind/solar-powered desalination plants??? For that matter, why aren't WE?

Short-sighted fools....

[hatrack]

3. Because they're too busy expanding coal export facilities

At least, that's what they're doing in New South Wales.

I mean, there's only so much money to go around. Pretty visionary, huh?

[Orsino]

13. Because the science hasn't advanced far enough...

...to pin this drought definitively on global climate change and thereby to human activities.

But I'll bet that the Australians are thinking along the lines you suggest.

[RestoreGore]

23. How far advanced does it have to be?

And at the point where people are commiting suicide because of it it's past time to do something no matter how you think it was caused. I'm not one for desalination as I think it is used as a bandaid in some instances, but in this case I could see it and I think Australia needs to seriously start thinking of that as well as investing in solar power and cutting CO 2 emissions.

[Orsino]

24. Far enough that the MSM can't shout it down.

I'm very much afraid, though, that civilization will collapse completely before that realization gets footing.

[RestoreGore]

26. Sad isn't it? Why can't we shout back? n/t

[WinkyDink]

39. Science is NEVER absolute. You go with the preponderance of evidence at the time.

[Orsino]

51. Well, sure. WE do.

They don't.

[Toots]

25. Too little too late..Why didn't they do this in the seventies?

We aren't going to fix this like that. We are going to see some tremendous changes that are unavoidable. Now we must learn to deal with major upheaval and mass migrations...Our lives will be changed forever and our children will see tremendous challenges. We can maybe prevent complete annihilation but that is a big maybe. Americans are pretty damn stupid. If a Democrat were to get a blow job most Americans would vote back in the Conservatives even though it meant the destruction of the planet. The ride is going to be a dilly..

[RestoreGore]

27. Because they're "politicians" n/t

[foreigncorrespondent]

28. Because currently down here,,,

...there is a debate raging about building desalination plants or water recycling plants (quite frankly, I do not fancy the idea of drinking another persons piss, regardless of what the process is.) In the mean time the water situation is very, VERY bad for the entire nation. Last I heard Melbourne was just about to hit the part of the water in our dams that have to go through special treatment because it really is the bottom of the barrel.

Were I am currently living (country Victoria) we have plenty of water (have several lakes and rivers around which are quite full) but we are still on stage four water restrictions because the main river which serves as the drinking water for this area has been polluted by the fires that raged at the end of last year, beginning of this year. Soon after the fires, it rained all over this area pushing all the ash and debris into the river system, hence polluting it.

This particular river used to be pretty clean, now it looks like brown sludge. And if you drink water straight from the tap, you can taste it. We now drink bottled water.

[RestoreGore]

31. Any talks about privatizing the water system there?

Or is that already the case? And no, I wouldn't want to drink "reclaimed" water either no matter how "safe" they tell me it is... disease happens. It appears to me that the politicians in charge let this go just enough to give them the chance to now use it to make a profit for their benefactors. Desalinization plants are expensive to build but of course now with the situation so grim something along those lines will have to be done as far as I can see. Again however, it is the people who will wind up paying for it. People have already migrated out of the Murray-Darling basin from what I have read. How do you now put their lives back together?

[foreigncorrespondent]

54. Been privatized already!

The Murry-Darling isn't looking so good. I saw pictures of it on the news the other day (being country I get country news, which gives better coverage than what you get in the city) and it is pretty damn dry.

I don't known what the answer is, but I wish the powers that be will get their asses into gear and begin fixing this problem, rather than arguing over it.

I have faced droughts before, but never anything like this. This really is the worst that has been seen in my life time.

[marions ghost]

what water restrictions

is the city of Melbourne experiencing at this point?

[foreigncorrespondent]

53. The last I heard for Melbourne...

...they are on level 3.

[Violet_Crumble]

55. We're on stage three restrictions here in Canberra...

We're getting off pretty lightly considering that Goulburn, which is only less than an hour's drive away, has been on stage five for a long time now. We've got a few dams that supply our water, but earlier this year the supply was switched from a dam that was getting very low to one that was in better shape. Only thing was that the water tasted so crappy it was undrinkable....

The govt (and I'll include state and territory govts as well as the federal govt) have acted negligently over this whole thing. It's not like the drought was something that just started this year. It's been happening for a few years now, and they should have been doing things much earlier to try to deal with it instead of waiting till now to announce to farmers who rely on the Murray-Darling for irrigation that they're shutting off the irrigation supplies after July. And I heard yesterday that they're planning on draining wetlands along the Murray-Darling. I can only guess at the environmental damage that move will cause. Y'know, when the drought breaks, and there's been predictions that will happen in a few months time, the Murray-Darling is going to flood and turn all that now-parched farming land into an inland sea, and that's pretty much going to give the final kiss of death to the fruit and veg growers...

[Leopolds Ghost]

57. Draining wetlands? Like they did in Louisiana? Like the Dutch and US Army are going back on doing?

[Violet_Crumble]

60. I'm not sure what they did in Louisiana, but this is what they're going to do here...

'Drastic' wetlands measure gets NSW backing

The New South Wales Government says while it is a drastic measure, it supports plans to drain eight wetlands along the Murray-Darling river system, in a bid to shore up drinking water supplies.

The State Government says it is a temporary measure and the wetlands will survive.

NSW Environment and Water Minister Phil Koperberg says the Government is reluctantly backing the proposal to drain a number of the state's wetlands including Taylor Creek, Dry Lake, Lake Benawee and Euston Lakes and allowing the water to be released along the Murray-Darling system.

He says it is a desperate measure but is necessary to secure critical water supplies for cities and towns along the Murray.

He says experts have assured him it will not cause long-term environmental damage.

"It has to be done - we're not happy about it ," he said.

"But it's not just to save the Murray - it's to provide critical high security water for users.

"By that I mean the evaporation rate on the wetlands is the equivalent of the supply that would be needed for Adelaide for the sake of the argument."

Mr Koperberg has stressed it is only an interim measure and will not cause long term damage.

"This is not the end of the wetlands - it's a regime with which they'll cope very, very well," he said.

He says if there is no rain by June the plan will take effect.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1903485.htm

[marions ghost]

65. what should they have done earlier?

specifically for the Murray/Darling region?

Who supports the theory that irrigation should not be stopped at this point in anticipation of a break in the drought soon?

I'm interested in this issue having spent time in and around the Murray and have friends in Victoria and NSW. (Of course am also interested in the implications re climate change in general).

[RestoreGore]

69. It's not the irrigation causing the problem it's the irrigation method

Have they explored methods of irrigation that actually conserve water? I don't think it should be stopped all the way if the outcome of it will only do more economic harm to those who live there. And what if that break does not come? How do people live?

[RestoreGore]

68. I wish there was something we could do here to help you

Is there? And I agree: your government failed you. They knew of this drought years ago and did nothing about it. I really am sad about this.

[Djinn]

73. No they didn't

This comes down to Australian citizens NOT the government. If several years ago any politican had flagged charging a price for water that reflects it actual worth, or suggested certain crops are just not sustainable in this country then they'd have lost office pretty quickly.

Australia has ALWAYS been an arid nation - this drought is unlikey to have anything at all to do with climate change. There are recurrent droughts in Australia and always have been - one of the main reasons that indigenous communities here were always nomadic.

The Australian community wants to grow rice and cotton and have suburban gardens full of European plants - it's OUR fault not the fault of politicians.

A classic example is the lack of support for recycled water - all water is already recycled - we already DO drink other people's piss, but suggest a plant that can recycle that water more effectively than the natural cycle (and much quicker and more specifically directed) and they piss and moan. I say fine - all those that are opposed to recycled water can die quietly of dehydration in a corner

It'd also be helpful if we just accepted that some crops are simply NOT sustainable in this climate, and NEVER have been. I don't recall many farmers battling on behalf of the millions of manufacturing workers who lost their jobs because manufacturing wasn't sustainable in this country - so it's about time the realities of the global world were forced onto them too.

It is insanity to grow crops like rice and cotton in Australia, the fact that we massively subsidise farmers to do this is ridiculous

[RestoreGore]

77. Australia never ratified the Kyoto Treaty

And actually, I did not say that government alone waa at fault. I have been writing for the past four to five years on water issues and definitley believe the people should take respsonsibility for how they use water. But the government is certainly not blameless in this as the report I posted below shows that in 2003 global warming was tied to this drought, and yet here we are.

[Skink]

2. The Bush admin might sell some water. Try em.

[RestoreGore]

22. Sell it? Yes, at a VERY HIGH price. n/t

[XemaSab]

30. From where?

It would be cheaper and easier to drag chunks of calved ice from Antarctica up there.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. Also withering: Iberia

Spain and Portugal have been parched for about five years now.

--p!

[RestoreGore]

16. Yes, they have as well as China now as parts of Africa

And parts of the U.S. But don't dare to say the debate on this is over as to the reality of this or a denier's head will explode. We will need global cooperation to work to mitgate the affects of this crisis which is upon us now, and all the Gold Bar Lovers Club wants to do is keep it from leaving the "debate" stage because they are afraid they will lose their profits, which shows how ignorant they truly are on this topic. People have committed suicide in Austalia due to this drought because they have lost everything. Cattle lay dessimated in Kenya on the baked dry ground due to drought. Farmers right here in America have seen their crops ruined. We have a moral imperative to step up now, and for the life of me I cannot understand how PM Howard thinks he is doing anything worthwhile regarding this. He knew of this a long time ago but continued to ignore it for political reasons and now to the peril of his country. I surely hope the voters in Australia remember that!

[Dogmudgeon]

41. So true

But on the road to desertification, I think it will be a race between Iberia and the entire continent of Australia. North China is also rapidly desertifying, and both the Sahara and the Sonora (the North American southwest) are expanding.

Funnily enough, this process of desertification is usually seen in ice ages, not warming periods, which leads me to believe that we're in the climatic run-up to a return of ice age conditions, having forced a cold era to begin much sooner than it otherwise would have. I'm sure the denialists will have an ironic giggle over that, as their summer homes become icebound and eventually are lost under the return of the ice.

The scary part about the onset of a glacial era is that it could take a decade or less, possibly as little as three years. Not quite The Day After Tomorrow, but bad enough.

--p!

[Cha]

5. Of course, bushlapdog howard is

is a hardened climate-change sceptic..what would you except from a bushlacky?

Maybe Australia should get rid of his ass like I can't wait for 1/20/09.

[WiseButAngrySara]

6. This is worrisome. Though I doubt it's the

"first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation"

[jwirr]

7. Katrina was possibly a climate change event and there is also

a drought in our own southwest.

[WiseButAngrySara]

9. Exactly. And all the fires of late... n/t

[RestoreGore]

17. I agree. It's the first one grave enough to get the attention. n/t

[Leopolds Ghost]

58. Unlike, say, Katrina

Which every scientist saw coming and did nothing about.

[RestoreGore]

70. I agree with you about that

I was actually speaking of the media.

[ends_dont_justify]

8. I wonder if it's karma for the horrible animal rights bills they placed

Namely those to feral animals, use of genetic warfare (for animals), tropical diseases, 1080 poisons, clubs and maces. I can't say I pity them...

[dysfunctional press]

11. no.

"karma" isn't real.

[RestoreGore]

18. I pity this planet which doesn't deserve our wrath n/t

[foreigncorrespondent]

29. Wow!

How nice of you to blame an entire nations population for the actions of a government. Does this mean we need to begin blaming the entire U.S. population for the war in Iraq? Same shit, just a different smell, you know?

[marions ghost]

10. we all need to be paying attention to this ... & not so judgmental

we certainly have no leg to stand on in criticizing the Aussies.

Remember they have a much smaller population (only 20+ million) in an area the size of the US, but it's all relative. They have less agricultural land, but they are also MUCH more frugal with water & other resources than here in the US, and have been that way for a long time.

Australia is going to be paying heavily for the excesses of the REST of the world, including the US. That's the way climate change works. Duh. The historically dry country of Australia is NOT primarily responsible for the loss of the arctic regions or changes in El Nino.

Howard will be replaced soon by a more progressive government that will inherit this. This is going to
become a huge challenge politically. It's going to get pretty interesting over there if they don't get rain very soon.

[RestoreGore]

19. True. This country still emits more CO2

And that is effecting countries globally.

[InvisibleTouch]

12. It could happen here too.

Remember the Dust Bowl?

Someone said here recently that our entire civilization depends on 6 inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains. If the rains stop, and the topsoil blows away...?

[jwirr]

14. Plant trees and shrubs - I tried to get away from saying that awful

name!

[RestoreGore]

20. It most definitely could happen here

The Colorado River is already below capacity and the center of controversy as are the Great Lakes and other bodies of water in this country such as the Moreau River in South Dakota that is now DRY. We need to wake up to the fact that this is the precursor to a drier world should GHGS continue to be spewn into our atmosphere at the rate their are being spewn now. The wildfires on the West Coast this year already prove that. To say we are entering a period of consequences is right on the mark.

[bikebloke]

15. The farmers are having real tough

Something like one farmer every four days commits suicide in Australia. That I heard from a New Zealand broadcast on the drought.

[RestoreGore]

21. Yes, it is tragic n/t

[WiseButAngrySara]

35. OMG! How sad. ....n/t

[kestrel91316]

52. Well, THAT will eventually solve the problem.......

:sarcasm:

No farmers >>>>>> no farming happening.

[RestoreGore]

32. Just as I suspected...

In the linled article above it states that PM Howard is talking up nuclear power.

[RestoreGore]

33. Entry to my blog on recycled water

http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/02/recycled-water-would-you-drink-it.html

[RestoreGore]

34. They are also experiencing drought in Vietnam as well as Afghanistan

http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/01/drought-threat-casts-shadow-on.html

http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2006/11/afghanistans-neglected-drought.html

This truly is a GLOBAL crisis.

[WiseButAngrySara]

36. Thanks so much for the links and info. Your posts are always

informative. Keep up the good fight!

[RestoreGore]

44. Thank you and I sure will n/t

[Gregorian]

37. Are we ever going to limit family size.

Of course, population has NOTHING to do with anything. Right? That's the comeback I always get when talking about environmental problems. It's the same denial I get when talking to someone who disagrees with global warming.

We need to stabilize the patient. But let's not talk about the REAL problem. Billions.

[marions ghost]

42. good point

I mean Australia's population has stayed at 20 million since 1970! Meanwhile the US population has ballooned by almost 100 MILLION during that time.

SO which country is doing more to contribute to environmental problems--Australia or America? Overpopulation is a BIG part of the picture.

------------

United States Census, 1970
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nineteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 203,302,031 in 1970.

[RestoreGore]

46. Very good point

Population(especially in developing countries feeling the brunt of this already)is one of the keys to balancing the global climate and water crises. The UN predicts at the high end by 2050 that there could be over 10.5 billion people on this planet. How will we ever be able to sustain that number at the wasteful rates we are using resources now? We are headed for a very rude awakening.

[entanglement]

71. Yes, but historically developed nations have used a disproportionate

share of the earth's resources (and still do, in fact, because of much higher *per capita* consumption rates). So developing nations aren't going to be very receptive to the idea of reducing consumption, 'rude awakening' notwithstanding.

[RestoreGore]

72. So basically we are screwed

If we then have to rely on some moral renaissance to take place within the next ten years.

[entanglement]

75. Honestly, it looks bad now - but IF (and this is a big IF) we solve the energy crisis

everything else will fall into place. Many (seemingly unrelated) problems are manifestations of the energy problem. Consider the looming water shortage, for instance - the cost of sea-water refining is currently prohibitive because of energy costs and yet sea-water is THE long term water shortage solution. With cheap, plentiful energy that problem ceases to exist. There are many such examples, and IMHO it is more realistic to expect better energy alternatives within the next ten years than a 'moral renaissance'.

Oh, and on the way, do expect the global profit system to throw a wrench in the works of anything good that comes up...

[RestoreGore]

76. Oh, I sure know that. The World Bank has that covered already

And to me I don't know how we will see better alternatives without a moral compass to drive them. I am placing my bets on solar and I do truly hope to see other renewables coming into the market at the pace they should have been at ten years ago. It is just frustrating that catastrophe has to strike before people get moving.

[Ilsa]

49. And some nutty woman with eight kids has the nerve to

say I have a "micro-family". When asked about population being hard on the planet, she digresses into the problems Italy is suffering because the women there don't want a bunch of kids, and alot of people there don't marry. I have to remind her to stay on point about the entire world's population.

[WinkyDink]

38. "The Prime Minister, John Howard, a hardened climate-change sceptic", said:

"Let them drink beer!"

Funny, how maybe his reality will now change, as his country withers away.

[live love laugh]

40. I guess he will have to come to terms with his skepticism at some point. At least that's good. n/t

[JNelson6563]

43. Water wars

will end once the floods kick into high gear.

[RestoreGore]

45. What a comforting thought

Then all we will have to worry about is death, disease, mass migration, destruction, devastation and famine. Floods are not good either, and according to the IPCC, Africa and other areas of the world will not be getting the rainfall they need in order to make up for what is now being sucked out of the atmosphere. So I do not believe there will be floods everywhere and again, floods are not good things either, especially in areas not accustomed to them.

[JNelson6563]

50. Hey I'm with you there

I didn't say it would be a good thing, it won't be. All the disasters coming our way will suck. No doubt our reactions to them will often suck too.

Julie

[RestoreGore]

47. Living With Water Scarcity-World Must Act Now

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=65841

[RestoreGore]

48. Report in 2003 showed human link to warming in Australia

http://www.wwf.org.au/news/n36/

Australia, the only country besides the U.S. to not sign the Kyoto Treaty even knowing this information.

[Leopolds Ghost]

56. Notice how he isn't asking wealthy Aussie urbanites to cut back on their Water Use.

So much for farmers being "natural conservative allies".

[Matariki]

59. so, why aren't govts working on desalination technology to process sea water?

anyone know anything about the techology?

[RestoreGore]

62. It is expensive and expends much CO2

In essnece it then exacerbates the problem. And our oceans are already in trouble so I only see it as a last resort. In this case in Australia then I could see it, but I also think it may just have gone too far now. Quite a quandary we have gotten ourselves into in this world.

[Rydz777]

61. And I find it a bit shortsighted

that here in the US of A we build large population centers in the middle of natural deserts.

[marions ghost]

63. kick for Earth Day

n/t

[RestoreGore]

66. 2nd kick for Earth Day

Which should be everyday.

[leftofthedial]

64. global warming is not real

well, okay, maybe it is real, but it's not because of anything people do. --pass the pork roast, would ya.-- I can prove it, too. My Hummer is w-a-y smaller than the earth, so it couldn't possibly cause the temperature to rise. --pass the carrots.--If my Hummer (and my giant king cab monster truck and my Excursion) don't affect the temperature, then NO vehicle affects the temperature and if no vehicles are raising the temperature, then people can't be causing global warming. --pass the potatoes.-- Scientific experts doubt the propaganda about global warming. --pass the butter please.-- Rivers are low because water runs downhill and we know that if you go downhill far enough you run into the sea. It's all perfectly normal. The reiver water is just running into the sea. --where's the friggin pork roast?--

[lovuian]

67. They have had to go to Desalination plants with windpower

but they can't make them fast enough

If America was smart we would start doing that right now to furnish the West with water

but alas the New World Order really doesn't want us to live

its a crisis of which bureaucracy can't handle

[RestoreGore]

74. desalination plants in the U.S.

Last I read there are about 1,500 brackish water desalination plants in the United States with one seawater desalination plant in Tanpa Bay, FL. I don't believe we should make desalination plants a habit as they are costly ( and I have concerns about the affects of sea water desalination on marine life) and do produce large amounts of CO2. They also then become a bandaid instead of a solution and in my view make people think they do not need to conserve water. I only see them as a last resort or to be used in areas like the Middle East which already suffers from water scarcity based on their geography.