Aussies believe in global warming...

We're having problems too

 

I'll just let the mutant blackflies do their thing ...

 

Should we save the skeeters for the second wave?

 

I'm waiting for the French to buy fine wines from Sweden...

 

:doh:

Way to go, Poindexter. That *was* a secret weapon of last resort ....

 

Thanks for the link. It is depressing indeed. The following quote reminds me a little of the water problems we are having in California, especially southern California. It seems like Australia is indeed the harbinger of what's to come...

And like the U.S., Australia's hands are bound by the industry giants. A land that is baking in sun with no push to major solar innovation. Sounds sadly familiar.

 

What about the....oops. Oh, yes, you're right. Silly me to give it away.

 

Well, what's the obvious answer for a coast with abundant sunshine? Solar distillation of sea water seems inevitable. Or conservation, but nobody seems to like that idea. We can't have golf courses in the desert losing money, now can we?

 

Not every Aussie believes...

 

That's ok, the

:tape2:

MMMPPHH! MMMPPPPHHHHHH!!!

is still ready to go at a moments notice.

BWAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA

 

Just as we should be taking advantage of solar in the desert areas of the US, Australia should be taking advantage of solar too. It should be a no-brainer

 

Jay, I think that we're starting to. There have been a number of announced CSP projects and they're not wee 'uns. In a decade, CSP may be taking the energy sector by storm. Oz will probably go the same route. Like you mentioned, they have massive solar resources down there.

 

I agree there is a start to solar, but we're still at baby steps

 

True, but one of the really nice things about solar is that you can get to the destination just taking lots of baby steps. Note that FL announced a new 75-Megawatt PE array south of where I live a few days ago.

 

The Aussies are sitting under an ozone hole. As a result, they have to wear sunscreen when they go outside on sunny days. Now, how many Americans know that? Only those that have been to Australia or have friends there. You don't see that on TV.

 

I guess the baby steps add up ...

 

If anyone's interested, this month's National Geographic has a big article on Australia and the plight of the folks in the area that's hit the hardest (sorry, the name escapes me at the moment). It truly is heartbreaking to see the breadbasket of Australia hit like this, and very scary to think that a place like California, which kind of is set up very similarly in that our water is available due to planning by man as well as is dependent on rains we receive primarily in the winter months, could be the next place on the horizon to experience a plight like this. Very unsettling.

 

I have just spent my easter working in Goolwa.
Goolwa is at the sea end of the Murray River, the Murray River is the largest river in Australia's east coast, it captures rain from the mountain range along the East Coast, the Great Dividing Range and carries that water across the inland desert west between Victoria and New South Wales, just before it crosses into South Australia it is joined by the Darling river which brings water from Queensland to the Murray River, well it once did.

The water level in the Murray River at Goolwa is about 3 metres BELOW sea level, the salt water of the Southern Ocean is being held back by a Barrage which was designed to hold the fresh water above the sea level. It is straining to cope.
The water levels in the River Murray is so low the banks are collapsing into the river taking huge trees with it. Part of the river at Long Island, Murray Bridge has been closed to boats because the channel is too shallow because of a bank collapse.

As you know or can see on the left of my posts, I live in Adelaide South Australia. Adelaide relies to a huge degree on the water of the Murray for drinking water. The water just isn't flowing into South Australia so there isn't fresh water to replace that which is taken for drinking and irrigation for food production. We just need a whole lot of rain. The problem is not just climate change but is bad river management.

Queensland don't let any water flow out of Queensland. They dam rivers with huge dams so water lays over huge areas and a massive amount of water is lost to evaporation. Flood irrigation is still practised causing rising salinity wrecking the productivity of the soil, also causing huge evaporation losses. In New South Wales they grow rice and cotton with water from the Murray Darling system Both require huge amounts of water.
The lower Murray is the fruit bowl of the nation, well one of the fruit bowls. Water from Mildura to Blanchetown is drawn from the river to irrigate fruit trees and grape vines. In South Australia drip irrigation is used heavily and water consumption is under 20% of what it once was, because water allocations have been cut by 80%, farmers have to comply. trees are dying due to lack of quality water, trees that will take 20 years to replace. The salt is rising from deep in the soil, the water is becoming more saline. This is Adelaide's drinking water!

Desalination plants are being built but they use electricity. Although with less than 8% of Australia's population, South Australia has around 58% of the nation's wind capacity (at 1 December 2008) and around 33% of the nation's grid connected solar photovoltaic capacity (at 30 September 2008). Most South Australian power comes from a dirty brown coal fired power station at Port Augusta. So now our drinking water is polluting the air. Soon we will need to desalinate the water from the Murray too.

This water crisis isn't all due to climate change, a lot is due to poor water management.