Lest We Forget I: Australian Drought

It's just the way media works: Some issues are hot, some are not. As global warming is, you guessed it, a global issue, chances are that some isolated effects are going to get a lot of the media attention. Currently, that would be ice melt, be it glacial, arctic or antarctic.

While there are certainly very good reasons to worry about this, let's pick something else entirely. Let's talk about the Australian drought.

Australia is one of two industrialized nations that have not subscribed to the Kyoto protocol (the US being the other). Public awareness on climate issues has been low, but is on the rise. One thing that should definitely concern them within their own borders is the persisting drought. Or rather: The climate change on the Australian continent.

So what is going on? In brief and from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology:

"Australia and the globe are experiencing rapid climate change. Since the middle of the 20th century, Australian temperatures have, on average, risen by about 1°C with an increase in the frequency of heatwaves and a decrease in the numbers of frosts and cold days. Rainfall patterns have also changed - the northwest has seen an increase in rainfall over the last 50 years while much of eastern Australia and the far southwest have experienced a decline."

2005 was the hottest year on record in Australia. But for many years, the continent has suffered deforestation and desertification as a result of less rainfall over large areas. This of course means trouble for the agriculture sector, to the degree that vast areas are no longer productive.

A side effect is raging wildfires, which again releases vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And with the good soil and forests gone, the land can no longer handle large the occasional large amount of rainfall when (or if) it arrives, resulting in floods. It is a vicious circle with no end in sight, but realizing that there is a problem is a necessary first step.