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I suppose this comment is quite off-topic, however whilst we can argue endlessly about the bush fires and possible connection to global warming the fact remains that Australia has always been a relatively dry continent. It may very well be getting worse. I very much doubt that even were all the countries in the world to suddenly agree to reduce emissions drastically that we would ever live to see a reversal of this drying/heating trend. In fact, all one commonly reads is that we might be able to slow the temperature rise. Thus, it would seem that whatever we might do about climate change is going to be a long term problem and solution, if there even is one.
But Australia's current situation demands much more immediate attention with respect to water. I am just gobsmacked that no government has had the courage or guts to go after this issue. I look at the Hoover Dam project in the USA and marvel that it was started during the great depression. That took guts, put people to work, continues to supply vast amounts of water to the arid Southwest, and in addition supplies hydro-electric power. There are certainly areas of Australia in the North that could harbour dams of this magnitude where the majority of water just flows directly into the ocean. If Libya can pipe water across their whole country why can't Australia use a system of dams to fill the river systems? Water and clean power could transform this country. It certainly won't end a drought but surely it would mitigate many of the risks. Even a government opposed to the validity of the climate activists claims could embrace such a project. In my view we have over populated the planet as a direct consequence of our industrialization and scientific progress. I believe our best immediate course of action is to mitigate what we have done to ourselves in the short term while not ignoring the necessity of long term policy with respect to the environment. Neither is happening and that is an utter disgrace as is the sad fact that the NBN is the largest infrastructure project in Australian history. What a ridiculous populist project this has become in the face of other vastly more important potential undertakings! While I understand the passion of both sides of the argument re energy production, compared to the water problem, the debate almost appears trivial.
Peter
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