As I had feared prior to the start of this trip (thanks to news from Triple J Radio, which is an Australian government- funded radio rock station that I've been listening to at home on the web), the drought the country is currently going through is indeed severe. In fact, it had been called "The Worst Drought in 1000 Years."
We wouldn't have known it from the rain storms we had experienced in the early parts of the trip, but even these didn't rescue some of the waterfalls (and more importantly, ecosystems) that depended on more seasonal rainfall amounts. As one local in Tumut told us, "It's been too dry for too long." How bad is the drought?
Bush fires are practically going off like fireflies in the night sky. We were fortunate not to get caught in any of them, but we did have to change plans a few times due to closures affected by either a total fire ban or damage from fires that have already occurred.
There is even talk of moving the city of Adelaide because the Murray River is feared to be in danger of drying up completely in as little as 6 months!
Keep in mind this is in November - Springtime! Summer hasn't even started yet!
We just so happened to be there following a winter in which large regions of Southern and Eastern Oz received their lowest rainfall in recorded history.
Brown fields and forests with sickly-looking dry trees were prevalent especially in Victoria and South Australia. We even noticed nearly Autumn-like conditions in the northern and eastern regions of Tasmania!
A petrol station attendant in Tasmania even told me that water in their hydroelectric schemes are only at 15% of capacity so they also have power concerns.
My cousin and a family friend who live in Melbourne say the climate is supposed to be more like Auckland (New Zealand), where the family friend's parents used to live. Of course it felt more like Los Angeles (i.e. dry and smoggy) when we were there.
The news and local talk is that this is largely due to Global Warming. Even though there's no direct link datawise at the moment, it simply can't be ignored nor dismissed. Yet it is ironic how Australia (along with the US) are the only "developed" nations who haven't owned up to the Kyoto agreement. Perhaps we're finally getting what's coming to both of us - supposing Hurricane Katrina was the slap in the face we needed in the case of the US.
Although Australia is a very sensitive land due to poor soil, high salinity, fragile wildlife, and variable weather, I'm sure poor water management practices, high impact development and logging, and native species [playing some role in the overall ecosystem equation] either dying off or rapidly diminishing in numbers are adding to their environmental woes.
Global Warming is a topic on the news every day down under. Quite a contrast to the relative lack of coverage on this topic back in the States. I think now even Prime Minister John Howard (who appears to be buddies with President Bush) is even taking this problem more seriously.
Other locals we've spoken to (especially in southwest New South Wales, throughout Victoria, and South Australia) have said the drought has been ongoing for 10 years with the current year being the worst in terms of the amount of rain received during the wet season. If climate change is indeed making their winters shorter, then this trend probably makes sense - shorter window for precipitation, shorter overall precipitation, period.
On a more global scale, we had even seen on the news in Oz that the Briksdal Glacier in Norway retreated 300m is less than a year! Having been there just last year, this was quite shocking indeed!
When we returned home, we had already heard from numerous people (especially from a friend of mine in the Netherlands) that the Alps are not getting any snow.
I certainly hope the drought in Australia is not part of a permanent climate change for the worst. I guess that's the big question right now. And it's not just Australia that's affected. Australian singer Ben Lee said it best in his song titled "We're All In This Together."
So as waterfall lovers (and nature lovers), lets keep our fingers crossed and still do what we can to live more responsibly. At least give ourselves and future generations a chance at having a future...
One last thing before I sign off on this blog.
If you still think Global Warming is a fluke, I seriously think you're in denial or refuse to pay attention to what's going on around you.
There are numerous media outlets talking about this topic such as Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth (though some could argue he's not necessarily practicing what he preaches) or any other Science Channel and/or National Geographic documentary. You can also Google Search for Global Warming and look up research data from unbiased third party researchers who have gathered evidence and allowed science to tell the truth (without any distortion of truth from politics, more or less).
You can find some additional info on the drought and Global Warming at:
NCDC FAQ on Global Warming
NOAA Paleoclimatology Data
Stanford Solar Center on Global Warming
News Report on the Australian Drought (there are several other similar news reports like this that grabbed their info from the same source; I just happened to single this one out)
International Herald Tribune Article on the Oz Drought (again there are other similar news reports like this one and I just happened to single this one out)
Note that there is way more info out there than what's listed here. This is just a sampling of what's out there to help you draw your own conclusions on the matter.
