<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Droughts and desalination in Australia—another amplifying feedback]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Sam Wells http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/ Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:06:23 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/1 Fool's Errand

Honestly, if I hear the term "feedback" so butchered again I am going to puke.

And please prove to use that brine waste from desal operations is "acidic."

And what on Earth do you think the Australians are supposed to do?  Sit there and think about reducing CO2 whilst they run out of water?

Think, man!

Onward through the fog

]]> Fool's Errand

Honestly, if I hear the term "feedback" so butchered again I am going to puke.

And please prove to use that brine waste from desal operations is "acidic."

And what on Earth do you think the Australians are supposed to do?  Sit there and think about reducing CO2 whilst they run out of water?

Think, man!

Onward through the fog

]]> Comment #2 by Jay Alt http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:35:11 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/2 Well Sam

his 2nd to last paragraph refers to salt buildup as an
additional burden.  The warming & acidification are already happening.

]]> Well Sam

his 2nd to last paragraph refers to salt buildup as an
additional burden.  The warming & acidification are already happening.

]]> Comment #3 by Craig Allen http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:28:30 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/unwanted-dryness-down-under/3 The situation is really dire down here

There are more details of the Australian drought and water deficit here.

Note the last paragraph:

"An extraordinarily low percentage of the rain that falls in the Murray-Darling Basin -- just 4 per cent -- actually ends up in the rivers. Most evaporates. In North America 52 per cent of the rain runs downs the rivers. In Asia it is 48 per cent, in Europe 39 per cent and Africa 38 per cent. This means the rivers of the basin are uniquely vulnerable to rising temperature."

The Murray-Darling is our biggest river system, but it seems that the bulk of the other rivers in southern mainland Australia have a similar dynamic.

And it's not just the rivers and wetlands that are suffering. Throughout Victoria and South Australia, not only are our most of our gardens and urban parks now dead and dying, but throughout the countryside it is evident that the bush (woods and forests) are beginning to die, there are vast areas where large proportions of the trees are skeletal remnants or are dropping their leaves and browning off (and summer is just about to begin).

This is an extinction event in progress.

We are so screwed.

]]> The situation is really dire down here

There are more details of the Australian drought and water deficit here.

Note the last paragraph:

"An extraordinarily low percentage of the rain that falls in the Murray-Darling Basin -- just 4 per cent -- actually ends up in the rivers. Most evaporates. In North America 52 per cent of the rain runs downs the rivers. In Asia it is 48 per cent, in Europe 39 per cent and Africa 38 per cent. This means the rivers of the basin are uniquely vulnerable to rising temperature."

The Murray-Darling is our biggest river system, but it seems that the bulk of the other rivers in southern mainland Australia have a similar dynamic.

And it's not just the rivers and wetlands that are suffering. Throughout Victoria and South Australia, not only are our most of our gardens and urban parks now dead and dying, but throughout the countryside it is evident that the bush (woods and forests) are beginning to die, there are vast areas where large proportions of the trees are skeletal remnants or are dropping their leaves and browning off (and summer is just about to begin).

This is an extinction event in progress.

We are so screwed.

]]>