Millenium Drought

Question 1

What are physical causes of the Millenium Drought?

Answer 1

• line of latitude:
  located on Tropic of Capricorn, which is an area of high pressure.
• el nino
  climate variability driven by El Nino years, which occured fromm 2002-2007

Question 2

What were the human causes of MD?

Answer 2

• global warming
  lead to higher temperatures, so higeher evaporation, so less precipitation as its often too cold for clouds to form
  e.g. rainfall in SE Australia was 25% below average from 1997 to 2009
• human use of water
  Murrey-Darling River Basin prvodes water for 3 million people
  water is needed for irrigation to maintain agricultural land, which - athte time - where extremely inefficicent so wasted a lot of

Question 3

When was the MD?

Answer 3

2002-9

Question 4

Why was Australia susceptible to the drought? ( what percentage of the water supply and agriculturual produce does SE provide?)

Answer 4

• the SE provided 75% of Australia’s water supply and contributes to 40% of all of australia’s agricultural produce - an economic heartland that, upon devastation, caused the rest of Australia to face the consequences

Question 5

What happened to rural suicide rates?

Answer 5

• increased due to increased pressure on local communities.
• In the Murray-Darling Basin, each additional month of extreme drought within a year was associated with a 32% increase in the suicide rates.
• In fact, it is estimated that approximately. 1.8% of suicides among rural working-age men during this peeriod could be directly attributed to drought conditions.

Question 6

How many people in farming industries lost their jobs?

Answer 6

100,000

Question 7

People in rural areas were affected most heavily. What did this cause them to do? What did this cause?

Answer 7

migrate to cities due to a lack of water.
this placed even more stress on those cities

Question 8

By How much did water bills rise? impacts?

Answer 8

by 20% in 2008
- increased financial pressure on households, especially low income families, so they had to cut back on other essentials like food or heating
- public frustration and backlash ( especially with the strict water usage regulations )- widened inequality
-greater awareness and conservation ( more people were encouraged to install water-saving devices such as low-flow showerheads and rainwater tanks))

Question 9

By how much did food prices rise?

Answer 9

Between 2005-2007, food prices rose by 12%, specifically fruits and vegetables increased by 43% and 33% respectively

Question 10

What happened to the numebr ofr dairy farms?

Answer 10

droppeed to 50&

Question 11

Toursim was negatively affected. How much was the loss of revenue from it?

Answer 11

70 million AUS dollars

Question 12

How much km squared of land was destroyed by wildfires?

Answer 12

30,000

Question 13

Describe the situation regarding energy sourcing/consumption.

Answer 13

• increased use of fossil fuels as energy from HEP was reduced due to dire scarcity of water.

Question 14

What happened to stream flows in Western Victoria?

Answer 14

lowered by 80%
- water shortages for farming, industry and homes, reduced HEP output, high risk of algal blooms growing due to stagnant water)

Question 15

Why are algal blooms dangerous?

Answer 15

• some produce toxins that can poison fish, animals and even humans
• they make the water unsafe for drinking, swimming or irrigation
• block sunlight and choke aquatic plants, disrupting food chains.

Question 16

How much did the multi-million desalination system in Sydney cost?

Answer 16

1 billion. Started operating in JAn 2010.
Designed to supply up to 2500 million litres of drinking water per day and meeting approx 15% of Sydney’s water needs

Question 17

What the the Sydney Desalination Plant operating on?

Answer 17

reverse osmosis technology, powered by renewable energy sources from the Capital Wind Farm in Bungendore, ensuring an environmentally sustainable water supply for Sydney

Question 18

How many rural families and small businesses were provided with income support? How much did this drought relief total to per day?

Answer 18

23,000 rural families and 1500 small businesses
1.7 million AUS per day

Question 19

Government introduced laws that put limits on how much water can be used. Name/ desrcibe some of the laws.

Answer 19

• In New South Wales and Victoria, :
  
  • lawn watering illegal on certain days/certain times
  • washing cars with a hose illegal ( only buckets allowed)
  • filling pools without a permit
  • sprinklers and irrigation systems during daylight hours illegal