SYDNEY, Australia – Be it in Maryland or half a world away here, water, which is so vital to life, can be a rare commodity.
During prolonged Maryland droughts of recent years, authorities prohibited washing automobiles and watering lawns. People were advised to shower or flush toilets less often.
But Australia is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years, and the consequences and restrictions are much more severe.
One farmer takes his life every four days, according to an October mental health report. Their suicide rate has soared to twice the Australian national average.
With the drought in its sixth year, the national government in Canberra has struggled for answers and announced aid packages. In October 2006, economic forecasters halved their estimate on the predicted size of the annual wheat crop, and another highly regarded estimate said agricultural output in Australia could be off by one third within 18 months.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister John Howard unveiled a controversial plan costing about $15 billion that among other things involved the federal government seizing control of Murray-Darling Basin, the country’s largest watershed, from state administration.
Around the same time, due to record-low dam levels, the premier of the Queensland state in the north of the country announced a plan to recycle sewer water into public drinking water next year.
“It will be treated to the extent that is world accepted. There will be no skimping on health standards,” he said in the Jan. 29 Australian. “I personally believe . that one day all the major centres of Australia will be using recycled water.”
For example, the plan to replace open irrigation channels with covered pipes to reduce evaporation is sound.
Meanwhile, water companies in major cities in Australia have already informed customers that water pressure is being halved to reduce usage. The move touched off a debate about whether there would be sufficient pressure for fighting fires or for hospital use.
During fall 2006, a visiting Canadian water resources expert caused soul searching here when she declared that Sydney is on track to become the world’s first major city to run out of water.
“You have 80,000 toxic sites around the country that are destroying aquifers and, the drop of aquifers and the use of industrial and agricultural water has increased dramatically over the last 10 years,” Maude Barlow said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “So, as your drought is here, and you’re having less rain and climate change is creating more drought, you’re exponentially overusing the current river and aquifer systems that you have.”
The roots of Australia’s drought lie in the natural rhythm of things, especially in the effect of the Southern Oscillation component of El Niño – and perhaps also in global warming.
Australia has always been known the world’s driest inhabited continent. But it is especially subject to the effects of El Niño and La Niña, particularly the Southern Oscillation, which is a major air pressure shift between the Asian and east Pacific regions that fuels the drought.
During an El Niño phenomenon, which the planet is experiencing, normal warm water circulation in the Pacific weakens and the seas east of Australia cool, causing the easterly trade winds to slacken in strength and feed less moisture onto the Australian continent. This makes eastern and northern Australia drier than normal.
In the opposite years of El Niño, when La Niña is strong, Australia suffers from major flooding.
According to the Australia Bureau of Meteorology, the nation’s worst examples of flooding were in 1973-74 (Brisbane’s worst flooding this century in January 1974) and 1988-89 (vast areas of inland Australia had record rainfall in March 1989).
Although British habitation of eastern Australia began in the 1770s, it was not until 1812 that a white explorer found a pathway toward the west across the Blue Mountains in a search for arable lands.
The fiery, four-term prime minister, who is usually aligned ideologically with President Bush, criticized presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq.
“If I was running al-Qaida, in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats,” he said.
“So, if he’s ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them up to Iraq. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of empty rhetoric,” Obama added.
The Howard administration has some 1,400 Australian troops in Iraq fighting the U.S. war.
Labeled “Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes,” the Baltimore National Aquarium’s new Australia exhibit provides an introduction to the animals and geography of the land Down Under.
Consisting of more than 65,000 square feet, the exhibit opened in December 2005 and presents the continent as a place of floods, fire and droughts.
It has more than 100 live trees and shrubs and 1,800 Australian animals, including flying foxes and bats, plus a 35-foot waterfall.
Feb. 21, 2007 – Landmark Media Group
The Third Person 