Read at : Google Alert – drought
Man-made Climate Change – the Cause of Australia’s Present Drought?
In an examination of the international controversy that is climate change and global warming, there are two conflicting positions and interest groups – the Scaremongers who fully support the theory, and the Idealists who want more concrete evidence. However in Australia much of the so-called support for the ‘Yes’ case is based on distorted information, untruths, and naked lies.
Of all the countries in the western world, Australia is the one that suffers most from the vagaries of the weather. At any one time, part of the country experiences drought. At the moment large parts of inland Australia on the Pacific side of the country are experiencing this problem whilst other areas are enjoying more favorable conditions.
The Scaremongers believe the present drought is the worst ever – it may be the worst in living memory, but it’s not the worst since European civilization started in 1788. The Federation drought of 1895 to 1903 is considered to be the one that caused the most damage to the economy and life in general.
The farming community in rural Australia accept drought as a normal aspect of life. Since the 1860s there have been 9 periods of major and prolonged drought covering large areas of the country, excluding the current situation. In addition there has been 6 droughts during this period covering smaller regions of the country.
During the periods of pre-European settlement, that is pre-1788, when industrial pollution could not have caused greenhouse gases and therefore affected climate change, droughts were just as prevalent. Examination of rings on trees and coral support this view. In fact examination of a piece of coral taken from the Barrier Reef in northern Australia shows that there was a drought in that region lasting 20 years from 1660.
However, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that droughts are a regular occurrence of Australian farming life, the media still push the line that the present drought is caused by global warming. Even the saner and more responsible parts of the press insist that Australia’s current predicament is being exacerbated by the government’s late signing of the Kyoto agreement.
Just more unsupported distortions of the truth from the people who are happiest when they’re dispelling doom and gloom.
Droughts in Australia are caused by, and have always been caused by, the activity of the El Nino Southern Oscillation – ELSO. This is a complex weather pattern that influences climatic conditions throughout the Pacific region. This phenomenon only became known in the late 70s and although much more work needs to be done to understand its complexity, weather scientists are now able to determine the influence it has on countries bordering the south Pacific fairly accurately.
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