Floods in Queensland and bushfires in Tasmania - that’s summer here.
If you want to see global warming spend summer in Sydney. It has been atrocious - yet again another week of temps well in the 30 and 80% humidity. Last night didn’t fall below 30 at home, had to have the aircon on until midnight.
Yes , its summer here and we have 5-6 days of nearly 40* days and 20* nights coming up here in Perth ,,, love Aussie summers and thanks for your kind words .
At least it's clear and I can get out for a bit of stargazing , thats a + .
The girls had a night up here where the temp read 49 which is unbelievable...solution was go swimming in the dam☺
Little rain here at the moment only 5 mm in the last week no rain for months before but when it starts you can bet it will flood...
That rain up North must have been something...I heard a mtr in a couple of days...
Even the lawn is really hot such that you can just manage with bare feet...although it looks dead now.
Down to about a foot of water in the tanks...but putting in a pump to bring in dam water into the mix...cant buy tanker water because the tanker would not manage the drive...so drinking water will be purchased at the super market and the dam water for washing.
Alex
If you mean that you don't expect flooding in Australia then think again. Dorothea Mackellar had it right when she said "I love a sunburnt country/A land of sweeping plains, /Of ragged mountain ranges, /Of droughts and flooding rains." In central Aust it is often the case that the drought is broken by a flood, and when that recedes the drought starts again. In the tropical north floods are part of the annual cycle, it's just that this year it's been particularly bad. [I lived for a year in Cairns and I've never seen rain so intense before or since.]
The continent is also big enough that we can have flooding in one place and a heatwave elsewhere. A few years ago the then PM was visiting a bushfire disaster in Victoria and had to pause at the press conference to send condolences to those affected by the Brisbane floods. The good news is that I don't believe there has been any loss of life [edit. two bodies have just been recovered - very sad]. I also saw a photo of grocery deliveries being made by boat and the supplies included beer, so some people are 'toughing it out' while staying relaxed.
Last edited by AstralTraveller; 05-02-2019 at 03:38 PM.
If you want to see global warming spend summer in Sydney. It has been atrocious - yet again another week of temps well in the 30 and 80% humidity. Last night didn’t fall below 30 at home, had to have the aircon on until midnight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
30c is a cool night in the west now. Try mid 40s in the afternoon. Further south west is even worse.
Hmm, it's relatively cool in Wollongong; yesterday maxed in the upper 20's. During heatwaves we are normally 5-10* cooler than western Sydney and get the change sooner. ..... just sayin'
Seriously though, I wonder how much of western Sydney's heat problem is climate driven and how much is the urban heat island getting worse as new suburbs mushroom up.
Hi Dave
Certainly nice and cool in "the Gong" today, did the lawn and barely broke a sweat but the clouds are a curse.
There have been studies done on the urbanisation effects on local climate and it is not much of a stretch to work out that with all the extra bitumen and concrete acting as heat sinks and then slowly radiating the stored heat during the night, that it has to add to the overall rise in temperature of the area.
I'm sure the developers and politicians don't have a clue and / or don't care about the effects of replacing green space with tar and cement. I grew up in western Sydney, Parramatta area, and took it for granted that during summer there would be a several days that got over 38c but now it seems that it is an more regular occurance.
I think it's the perpetual joke of the internet that everything in Australia is deadly. Spiders, snakes, the weather, etc.
My area is a bit of a mess right now. Though the drainage is very good in most suburbs. I'm pulling about 20L of muddy water out of my Wife's car each afternoon, though the house itself is fine.
Whilst I'm very curious to see this stuff first hand, I feel it's best to stay at home, out of people's way. It's doubtful anyone appreciates rubberneckers running tours on the misfortune of others.
The Council has handled this well, and 95% of people have been very helpful to each other. Looting has been minor by the numbers, though anything over 0% raises the blood pressure...
My Folks' house west of Townsville is cut off all week by a bridge washout and various landslides. The Charters Towers Council kindly hired a helicopter to deliver groceries and my Dad's medication repeats. Fun times.
Yes, it has been more wet than usual in some parts of Queensland, and because of that, we had a very slow start to the new school year in some areas. Some kids have been unable to come to school, even though it is already the end of Week 2 of this term. Luckily it looks like the big rain is over.
It's such a pity its not possible for someone to bulldoze a bloody big trench to drain the far north into the Murray Darling catchment.
Or better yet, lay a big fat pipe from somewhere west of Sydney to tap into the Buller River (New Zealand South Island) where the outflow is about half of the volume of Sydney Harbour - per hour. A few percent of that would solve much of NSW's drought issue !
Hmm, it's relatively cool in Wollongong; yesterday maxed in the upper 20's. During heatwaves we are normally 5-10* cooler than western Sydney and get the change sooner. ..... just sayin'
Seriously though, I wonder how much of western Sydney's heat problem is climate driven and how much is the urban heat island getting worse as new suburbs mushroom up.
I've been looking daily at the summer temperatures in Western Sydney and surroundings. While there's no doubt the city acts as a heat sink most of the heat comes from the west in waves. There are parts of Sydney between Liverpool and the city spreading south to Camden and north to Richmond that stay warmer overnight than let's say down to Bowral or Moss vale where it's already cooler. Wollongong is coastal and shielded to the west. Every coastal narrow strip of let's say 3 to 5km benefits from the open air and breeze from the sea. Also the cool changes often come from the south. The coast is facing SE so you guys get cool faster keep cool longer too. I remember being around Austimere one very hot day last year. It was 29c on the beach. We drove up to Bulli, top of the cliff temp was already 35c. Went along the princess hwy up towards Sydney as soon as we hit heathcote road to the left in the ~10km to go to Liverpool way we were at 45c already by Bankstown level then ended back home it was 47c at 17:00.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wavytone
It's such a pity its not possible for someone to bulldoze a bloody big trench to drain the far north into the Murray Darling catchment.
When you see all that water up there it does make you think hey? It would be a long term infrastructure project. Coupled with water storage but no gvt would have the ball to bite the bullet. Something needs to be done about our water management. Maybe more recycling. I feel sorry for the poor buggers around Townsville though. Been in flooding with head high water in a house. Once it receeds the mud and sh|t hangs around for years. Some neighbourghs even said I'd rather have it burned and gone rather than flooded. At least you can clean up and rebuild.
It's such a pity its not possible for someone to bulldoze a bloody big trench to drain the far north into the Murray Darling catchment.
Or better yet, lay a big fat pipe from somewhere west of Sydney to tap into the Buller River (New Zealand South Island) where the outflow is about half of the volume of Sydney Harbour - per hour. A few percent of that would solve much of NSW's drought issue !
Much of that North Qld rain, West of the ranges, will drain down through the Channel Country and into Lake Eyre eventually. West Qld needs that rain.
If corporate farms stopped trying to grow cotton (a water intensive crop) the Murray Darling system would have no problems. These big businesses have ignored water allocations for decades.
Much of that North Qld rain, West of the ranges, will drain down through the Channel Country and into Lake Eyre eventually. West Qld needs that rain.
If corporate farms stopped trying to grow cotton (a water intensive crop) the Murray Darling system would have no problems. These big businesses have ignored water allocations for decades.
It's changing Glen. I have overheard quite a bit coming out of MDBA executives, and the pressure is on now - especially with QLD.
It might take time, but it is - apparently - being fully investigated.
Okay.. I'm gonna wade into this (pardon the pun)...
Firstly, I am in no way a defender of cotton farms but, I watched an interesting snippet on Dateline the other night &, the whole issue is far more complex than any one side wants to acknowledge.
Okay, what I learned...
Cotton farming in Australia is not actually as water intensive as you might think.. despite some of the images that are bandied about on social media, particularly in relation to Cobbie station.. In fact, Australian cotton farming is the envy of the world (true, I kid you not) due to the way in which the farms here have reduced water useage, yet increased yield.
Fact; many of the crops grown in Australia are far more water intensive than cotton but, I don't disagree with the fact that it seems an interesting choice of crop to grow in a region that isn't renowned for consistent rainfall & water supply.
What else I have learned is that the biggest issues of all are:
(a) Water theft - people (and not just corporate farms) taking considerably more than their allocated amount.
(b) Lack of monitoring & enforcement - multiple farmers in the M/D basin area were demonstrating their latest 'sealed & locked' irrigation monitoring equipment as mandated by the MD management board... that, no-one actually comes and monitors...
(c) Constant bickering by the states as to whom is ripping off whom / mismanaging the system
(d) Drought.. yes, this does indeed play a significant role in the problem
The Governments involved (yes all of them, doesn't matter the flavour) love this ****.. because the more people bicker, point fingers, etc... the less they actually have to do to fix the problem..
I grew up in Adelaide.. driest friggin state in the country... In the riverland, some people started to wise up & switch from open ditch irrigation of fruit crops to dripfeed, straight to the root base.. yields sky rocketed, water useage for those farms plummeted... What did the government do with all that extra water... well, it allowed those farmers to onsell their unused allocation to those who refused to move away from open ditch irrigation...
The reality is, we can have all the great schemes in the world.. all the monitoring technology the world can offer but, if there is no political will to actively monitor useage, offer incentives to reduce use, enforce even the existing rules.. then.. nothing will change...
It's not just the same with water allocations/management, it's the same with everything.. just look at the Banking Royal Commission report.. sure the banks did bad things.. but, the rules to protect customers already existed.. the commission to enforce those rules existed... but, did sweet FA!!
You want change... then stand up & demand it.. join the farmers who also want change... stop the bull**** & stop allowing our politicians to remain unaccountable for their failures...
I remember to some extent (I was still quite young), the seventies.. when people got up and marched in the street to demand change.. pretty much now... no-one bothers... we comment on social media... (me too...)..
It's time we got off our collective butts & reminded these idiots who they work for...
Please, I don't want this to turn into a political debate... left vs right vs whatever... it is we the people (yeah, a seppo term I know) that continue to allow this crap to happen because we are apathetic!! We all want someone (else) to do something about it...
Rant over.. you can all chill now... Mods, if this breaches forum rules, I apologise... it wasn't intentional & feel free to delete...
I used to believe (naively as it turns out) that our political system looked out for the interests of this country & all it's population...
Maybe, just maybe that was true, once...
Last 3 or 4 Federal elections (and state for that matter) I agonised over who to vote for... none of the choices in my area were any good to be honest...
I can't give you a straight answer though... maybe voting isn't the solution these days.. maybe it's time to take to the streets...
Maybe...., maybe it's time for a revolution...Although, that's rarely worked out well for any country...
I think what people most underestimate is just how much power we have as a collective... This is why, all parties seek to divide & create fear (IMHO)... they recognise that the people united are a force to be reckoned with... maybe it's time we exercised that power...not at the ballot box but, out on the street, united.. demanding better of our elected representatives... a reminder perhaps, of who they actually work for!!
Or not... depending on how motivated you are...
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Good post, straight to the point Carlton.
Who do we vote for though? Either sides peddle the same sh|t.
LibLab win each and every election because we let them. The rusted-ons tend to scream about how much better their side is, but in reality if there's more than about 5% difference between them I'll be very surprised.
Except for very few policies, seemingly there to give the illusion of choice, they are the same. They overwhelmingly vote together on legislation. Mostly have the same party donors. Interchange once every few elections to pretend that something is actually changing.
I think we have no choice really. Water is going to be a very precious commodity. Extreme weather events are already here and will increase in frequency and magnitude. We'll have to adapt and quick, with or without the pollies.
Having been involved in agriculture for almost 30 years , water usage is always an issue that comes up over and again , simply put if you halve your water usage by better irrigation methods you double your cultivated area any notion corporate producers or any large water users think otherwise is not probably true.
Monitoring I have always found to be exclusively paper compliance
Not once has anyone come and checked pumping stations or read required meters .
,,, love Aussie summers and thanks for your kind words .
It would be a long term infrastructure project. Coupled with water storage but no gvt would have the ball to bite the bullet. Something needs to be done about our water management. Maybe more recycling. I feel sorry for the poor buggers around Townsville though. Been in flooding with head high water in a house. Once it receeds the mud and sh|t hangs around for years. Some neighbourghs even said I'd rather have it burned and gone rather than flooded. At least you can clean up and rebuild.
