Landscape Management, September 2009
A climate change of attitude Australian policymakers are talking global warming and its implications for the countrys fresh water resources BY RON HALL EDITOR AT LARGE A VSTltAl l o T ilE driest inhab Australian water ired romincm on t lrth is ala glance a testament to mans industriousness creativity and IlCmaps Population 22 million to his 31TOgance by choosing to live projected population of more wherever he desires than 39 million by 2056 ImemaDonal attention is focus Continental area of ing on the water issues faci ng this 2680 OOJsq miles 10 limes continent 80 of which is desert or larger than Texasl semiarid In a sense it thc Earths tcst On average 90 of ra infall is tube for global wanning especially in teOllS of water resources directly evaporated back to the Austrnlian seientists and polil 1 llakatmosphere or used by plants only 10 runs off to rivers and crs arc raking climate chanbC seriously Tht yrc prqraring the coumrys w Iter streams or recharges ground water aquifers and energy sectors in alllicipalion of significant environrncnral changes Household water I dont care if you belie c in coosumptioo about 75 gal climate change or nOt bm youre a bit per person per day of a fool if you dont manage the risk Household water use says Dr Bryson Bates chief scientist decreased by 8 from 2001 with the Ausmlian ConlJllonwe alth 101005 Scientific and Resc arch Organization Household use of reused or CSIRO Were seeing strollg cvirecycled water increased from dellCC from climate research and we 11 to 16 from 2001 to 200j seem to be locked into a drying cycle imo the future SWI l w am_ _ c Evidence of rapid global change 2Z LANOSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET SEPTEMBER 2009 is impossible 0 ignore Bates sa Its most o bvious manifestations arc melting icc sheets 311 1 caps melting glaciers melting pcnnafrost occ n acidification atmospheric circulation changes ecosyst lII changes Bates clicf is supported by a ret nt report om the Austr llian Climatc ChanbC Science Progrnm claiming that during the past 30 l years there has been I drnmatie shift i in the untl s cli mate which is affecting stonn trncks in southcm Q e Austrnlia The shift has resulted in a 30 red uction of stonn growth mle meaning less minfall throughout i southem Australia Put in perspective While its beliC the continent has I been inhabi l J for about 50 XX years il wasnt 1I11ri11788 whcn ships began disbOrging Englands excess popula tion that todays Austrnl ia began taking sh pe In c nC comers quidJyser about 3ttempting to trnilsfonn the
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