Adventure Ausrama Blog

Our grandchildren will not enjoy the natural environment as we do. Yes, visits are organized for sightseers, but at least we have something to look at. We ignore the damage we do at our peril. This couldn't care less attitude has to change. Water shortages will become normal in urban areas and country regions. Ironically, Australiasia is experiencing a lot of rain at the moment. Will this continue? Perhaps the nation is becoming more tropical. However, El Niño will return eventually. When the weather is hot, plants and people do not do so well. There is plenty of food available in Western countries now. This could change with a persistent drying climate. The West does not seem to care about those suffering famine in Africa. Starvation and malnutrition could happen at home. Animal and plant biodiversity also suffers from severe change. In the last decade 50 percent of native animal species have died out in Australia. When an organism meets its demise the whole ecosystem

The world is in a crisis of bad weather. Extremes of climate are becoming regular phenomena. While coastal eastern Australia is getting unprecedented levels of rain. inland there is a drought. We have a drought even though El Niño has not been in effect for years. It could be said that the rain on the coast is caused by La Nina. This does not explain "the dry" inland. Where once weather could be clearly predicted by the El Niño/La Niña cycle, this is no longer the case. Improvement in weather forecasting now helps in knowing a year in advance whether El Niño or La Niña will be dominant. An El Niño is due. The US would be pleased to get some relief from damaging drought and fires. Australia's last drought was severe. The Queensland government invested heavily in water catchment and storage. When La Niña arrived the government was condemned and even ridiculed for "wasting" money. At the time the investment was deemed necessary by government and co