Is the Southern Colony Sustainable?

[Bobj]

I think that I've tracked down who's responsible for that!

 

 

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/austra...icle3124291.ece

 

(There are a few fellas in Queensland who know how to bring on the rain, if they are suitably rewarded!)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People are suffering in Eagleby, too. There is a sense of bereavement

Known throughout Brizzie as " the Separated Wives Town" :D :D :D :D :D

[Leon Roskilly]

VICTORIA could soon be hit by heatwaves in three out of every four years, as Australia becomes hotter, drier and increasingly drought ravaged.

 

Drought will occur twice as often and be twice as severe within 20 to 30 years, a joint report by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO examining the extent of drought in Australia has warned.

 

"While this is a scientific report, parts of these high-level projections read more like a disaster novel than a scientific report," Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said yesterday.

 

 

Full story at:

 

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/victo...80706-32nm.html

 

 

(Interestingly perhaps, back in the early 60's, I had Senator McNamara ask a question about Climate Change in the Senate. I think that CSIRO briefed the senate that there wasn't much to worry about! I guess that there may be a record of that somewhere, around '63 - '65 probably)

Edited July 6, 2008 by Leon Roskilly

[Leon Roskilly]

"If we don't have effective global mitigation, we will be abandoning life as we know it in significant parts of Australia, including the Murray-Darling."

 

http://news.theage.com.au/national/climate...80708-39d4.html

[Newt]

"effective global mitigation"

 

I'm assuming they are talking about greatly reducing non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions when they use that phrase. Since the effort would need to be worldwide and to happen very soon and only possibly be effective, I wish them the luck they are going to need which is a bunch.

 

I suspect that 'cherish your desert' is more likely although given time, it certainly may revert. The US Sonoran Desert was once wetlands and changed over way before man was putting out more gases than an occasional burst of methane from the nether regions after eating too much or a bit of smoke from cooking fires.

[Leon Roskilly]

I suspect that 'cherish your desert' is more likely

 

The problem is that most of Australia is desert already, with fertile areas confined to the coastal fringes, mainly in the East.

 

That is the worrying bit.

 

Can the continent service the needs of the current large population if even the relatively small fertile areas become desert?

 

Living in the big cities, there is always a disconnect between city life and the realities of occupying a continent which has always only ever supported a relatively few people.

 

European agriculture and animal husbandry has always been a struggle there, and ultimately very damaging to the land and the natural systems, with some farmers now turning towards ways of living with the land as it is, rather than fighting it to be something different.

 

Export of mineral resources has allowed the economy to import necessities of western life, but ultimately a continent has to be able to support the population's needs from it's own resources, sooner or later.

[Clifftop]

Here in SA we are at the end of the line as far as the Murray river goes, the Coorong is slowly dieing, the lakes are drying up, up river they are growing cotton and rice both water guzzling crops.

This government and governments before are too weak to take control of the river system. We have all the state governments looking after there own patch and to hell with everyone else.

There is no easy answer to this problem but it would be a good start for them all to work together instead of fighting each other.

In SA the government keeps crying that ''we need more skilled workers because of the mining boom'', yet we don,t have the water to service the population that we have now.

We have been paying a Murray river levy since 2003 which has raised about 56 million dollars and today we are worse off then when they started the levy. Another tax grab maybe with the money going into general revenue. We will never know.

[Leon Roskilly]

Just so long as the supply of Fosters doesn't dry up!

 

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/river...80721-3isl.html

[Leon Roskilly]

More bad news

 

Seems that the Murray River Lakes are about to be abandoned

 

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/last-...80806-3r69.html

[Clifftop]

More bad news

 

Seems that the Murray River Lakes are about to be abandoned

 

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/last-...80806-3r69.html

 

 

With ministers like this its going to happen sooner than later. Minister Maywald needs to join the real world i think.

 

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...5006301,00.html

[Newt]

A shame to lose a valuable series of fresh water lakes but if there is not enough water and no end in sight to the dry spell, it may be a matter of better sooner than later after more of the limited fresh water has been wasted trying to save a thing that really can't be saved.