Drought and Bushfire in Australia - Attitude towards a Human-Induced Natural Disaster - Case Study Example

Drought and Bushfire in Australia: Attitude towards a Human-induced natural disaster 2007 Australia has faced droughts from as long as the continent’s history is known, even before the first fleet arrived in 17881. However, there is little account of droughts in the early years of settlement. The first surveys were made by Foley in “Droughts in Australia” (1957) and by Gibbs and Maher’s monograph, “Rainfall Deciles as Drought Indicators” (1967)2. Till about two decade ago, droughts were thought to be nature’s quirk rather than a geographical reality. The Australian people, particularly the farming community, however, has not yet accepted droughts as a reality in the country and seems to be surprised at every such event. Botterrilli (2003) said, “The concept of 'average' rainfall is essentially a statistical construct that bears little resemblance to most seasons. This approach suggests that the notion of 'drought' may be meaningless in an environment in which extremes are the norm, particularly as the term is so value laden and evocative of unexpected disaster”3. Studies have now confirmed that Australia’s unique geography as positioned across the subtropical high pressure area has made droughts inevitable. The northern and southern parts of the country get rain-bearing winds through the year while the east gets moisture from the Tasman and the Coral reefs. Yet, most parts of the country get insufficient rains. More critically, most droughts are not one-shot short affairs but are prolonged episodes, often continuing for more than a year. In particular, the droughts in the northern and eastern parts are accompanied by the El Nino Southern Oscillation4. Usually, the periods of drought in Australia do have sporadic rainfall but it is grossly insufficient for human, animal and vegetation life. Although droughts in Australia are largely the result of its geography, it is also exacerbated by human-induced climate change. Over the history of Australia since the formation of the federation, drought-mitigation methods have included building large dams that have in effect resulted in change in river flows. As a result, drought events have increased rather than decreased in many parts. Only recently, it is being recognized that droughts are a result of climate change brought about by increased temperatures because of greenhouse emissions. Hence, since the 1990s, the attitude has shifted towards energy conservation that reduces greenhouse gas emission and also water conservation. From the earlier perception of droughts as natural hazards, it is now recognized that droughts are the result of climate change due to human development and temperature rise on account of greenhouse emission. Therefore, government policy as well as private enterprise has changed their attitude towards recognizing the role of the ecosystem5. In most parts of the world, droughts are considered to be disaster events and government policy is geared towards crisis management. Australian official policy towards drought had a similar attitude in the initial years. Even media reports on drought had a similar attitude of looking at droughts as disasters. Only more recently, drought is accepted as a reality and the approach has shifted from crisis management to risk management. Australian agriculture is highly dependent on rainfall. 'Drought is a normal feature of the Australian farmer's operating environment' (Botterill and Fisher 2003)6. There was little awareness towards risk management during the first recorded drought event during 1895 – 1902 (known commonly as the Federation Years as the Federal government was formed by the end of the period). The economy was seriously dependent on rains and the shortage of water resulted in huge loss of sheep, cattle and wheat. Yet, there was little water conservation or drought mitigation strategies adopted. When water shortage Sydney and the New South Wales grew to crisis levels in 1902, the government declared a day of prayer for the rains. This was followed by similar declarations by the governments of Queensland and Victoria. The end of the year saw rains in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, and both the government and private enterprises returned to normal life without taking any step towards averting a similar experience7. It was assumed that the crisis will not befall them any more. However, another drought returned in 1913 when rainfall in western Victoria, central Tasmania and south Australia was below average during April to July. The wheat crop was saved by rain in early spring but the following year, a strong El Nino resulted in wild bushfires in southern Victoria in March and April. The drought spread across Australia except in coastal New South Wales. In the southern states, October of 1914 has remained the driest month in record. The droughts continued till 1915. The next episodes of drought occurred in Australia in 1937-45, 1965-68 and 1982-83. Droughts have continued to recur through the 1990s and 2000s8. Response to droughts in Australia has been sporadic and short-term. Drought policy has not been an on-going concern like other economic policies, like for example, the interest rate policy. In the 1930s, the government introduced debt reconstruction and farm subsidies to those affected by drought. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the government provided support to farmers through commodity marketing schemes and price support. By the end of the 1960s, the government began to provide direct support to farmers affected by sudden climatic variations. In 1977, the Rural Adjustment Scheme (RAS) was introduced as a lender of the last resort. However, by the 1990s, it was recognized the world over that the government’s direct role in supporting agriculture was futile unless long term sustainability issues were addressed9. Since 1990s, there has been a significant change in official drought policy. The National Drought Policy of 1992 was aimed to induce Australian farmers to become self-reliant strategies of managing climate changes, control the country’s agricultural and natural resources towards sustainability and prepare the agricultural and rural industries to cope with severe climatic variations. This was the first time that official policy moved away from a subsidy-oriented “crisis management” approach to a long-term sustainability approach10. Subsidies for businesses like transport, water and livestock so far provided by state governments were removed in stages while risk management strategies in rural areas were put in place. In 1995, the Drought Exception Circumstances was instituted following the historically lowest levels of rainfall in some parts of eastern Australia11. The new policy continued on the strategy framed in the National Drought Policy but also indicated that direct government intervention was required in exceptional circumstances based on specified criteria like the scale of the event, meteorological, agronomic and stock conditions, water levels, the level of environmental impact and farm income. The 1999 policy elaborated on the policy by stating that the exceptional circumstances should be predictable and extremely severe and large-scale to warrant direct government intervention. In particular, farm income should show a sharp decline on account of drought to attract subsidies. In the new focus to long term risk management policy, the scientific focus on studying and predicting droughts and their effects have come to be crucial. Risk analysis to predict droughts is, however, not a pure research activity but has a policy orientation. However, the diagnosis of risks and policy prescriptions can never be a linear process and is riddled with uncertainties. It is, therefore, beneficial to involve communities, states and the federal government along with the scientific process to manage risks and adopt strategies12. Subsequently, several environmental audits have been made in Australia in order to assess water resources in various areas of Australia. The National Land and Water Resources Audit of 2002 showed that only 12 percent of the rainfall was collected in the Australian rivers and 26 percent of the country’s surface water and 31 percent of the groundwater was allocated despite the fact that demand was much in excess13. According to CSIRO, El Nino conditions accompanied by greenhouse gas emissions resulted in climate variability, with intense rainfall in La Nina years and drought in El Nino years. Agricultural productivity in Queensland has been found to be related with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The change in air circulation as a result of the changing air pressure leads to the El Nino events caused by climate change that is mainly human induced14. The concern over the El Nino Southern Oscillation that results in climate change in Australia is relatively recent. The impact of El Nino on reduced rainfall was studied by geologists in the 1970s and 1980s and by ecologists and climatologists in the 1990s. Water ways in Australia have been modified since the early settlements. In a study on the Cox River catchment area, the CSIRO found that the vegetation in the area was found to have changed over the years. Before the advent of European settlers in the area, there is no evidence of Aboriginal burning of vegetation. However, over the years, pastures developed particularly in the upper and mid catchment areas. The lower parts of the Island Hill are covered by native timber planted by the settlers. Initially these areas were used mostly for grazing but as population increased, the land was converted to pastures. In addition, forestry, coal mines and electricity generation plants grew in the area. Over the years, land clearing in the upper and mid catchment areas, regional climatic variations and the building of the Lyell Dam in 1982 has altered the course and flow of the river. The climatic variations have increased the area’s susceptibility to floods and drought. From 1992, more water was extracted from the dam reservoir, reducing the mean flow in the river while increasing the very high flows also15. The Mound Springs in southern Australia has the groundwater system covering 22 percent of the continent, supplying water to the arid and semi-arid regions. However, economic activity over the century since the settlers arrived and the construction of the water supply borefields connecting the WMC Olympic Dam in the Great Artesian Basin has reduced the water flow in the springs. In 1975, huge uranium reserves were found at the site and commercial mining operations began in 1988. Besides uranium, other metals like gold, silver and copper are also mined here, damaging the water resources16. Droughts have had the most severe economic impact in Australia hence it is a major political issue. Through the continent’s history of droughts and bushfire, the economy and the politics have been severely affected. While the early drought episodes resulted in crop failures and loss of sheep and cattle, the recent droughts have also had an impact on the economy. In 2006, following five years of continuing drought and the resultant cuts in crop yield forecasts reduction of water levels forced the government to call for a water summit in Canberra17. Considered to be one in a thousand year drought, it resulted in the Murray-Darling river basin that supplies 4 percent of the national water requirement, to fall to 54 percent of the normal level. While Sydney’s huge reservoir of drinking water had 40 percent water, the smaller towns and cities suffered even more acute water shortage. This particular drought has sparked off a controversy since the government has not signed the Kyoto protocol for climate change agreed upon by many countries to reduce greenhouse emission and global warming. Despite the UN figures that Australia has one of the highest greenhouse gas emission and that it has grown by 1.5 tonne since 1990, the government has refused to sign the protocol on the argument that it does not include other major polluting countries like India and China. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) predicted that rainfall in eastern Australia could fall by 40 percent and temperature rise by 7o C till 207018. In Australia, climate change has been a result of its unique geography as well as human development that has endangered the ecosystem including the alpine regions, the rainforests and the coral reefs. In addition to the natural climate change, human induced climate change as a result of increased emission of gases like carbon dioxide has resulted in global warming that is predicted to increase further. As a result, there is a snowballing effect on the environment in the future unless mitigating efforts are adopted urgently. In Australia, stationary energy (electricity generation), transport, fugitive emission (waste gas), industrial processes, agriculture, change in land use and forestry and waste, emit greenhouse gas. While climate studies considering only natural factors like solar radiation and volcanic eruptions, indicating a little cooling effect over the past 100 years, studies on human-induced factors like emission of greenhouse gases through vehicular and industrial fuels have resulted in the higher temperatures. Human induced global warming has also been confirmed with temperature recordings at thousands of locations in the deep ocean19. The recurring droughts resulting from change in rainfall patterns has severely affected the water supplies in the southwestern and southeastern parts of the country. Bores are being dug to tap underground water and pipelines built to draw water from a large waterhole outside the town. Public institutions like schools, offices and jails have been instructed to use water with prudence. The government has increased its budget for water resources. For example, Western Australia’s budget for water resources was AUD 715 million, including a desalination plant costing AUD 315 million in 200520. Temperature rise has been most severe in Australia in the past decade as a result of warming induced by human development. Nine of the ten warmest years since 1861 have occurred in the past decade, with 2005 having the highest temperature on record, the average surface temperature has risen by 0.7oC over the last century. The rate of temperature has increased fastest over the last decade. CSIRO projects temperature increase of 0.4oC by 2030 and by 1 to 6oC, resulting in more droughts in New South Wales. Climate models indicate that drought frequency in this area will increase from average 3 years per decade to 4 years by 2030 as a result of warming and climate change21. Since the 1990s, drought mitigation steps like water recycling, storm water management and water conservation strategies have been adopted. For example, the New South Wales Guideline for Urban and Residential Use for Reclaimed Water initiated the water and sewage treatment plants. Also, the sewage and effluent plant was installed at the site for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Water restrictions were imposed after the drought of 2001-03 in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and the Queensland Gold Coast. Subsidies were provided for the use of water from the rainwater tanks. However, most of the treated water was used for commercial purposes including agriculture while there was little reduction in household water consumption22 . Various national level natural resources programs were introduced in the 1990s. The National Decadal Landcare Plans were aimed to raise land productivity so that water use can be rationalized. The program also included environmental projects like the Save the Bush and the One Billion Trees programs. Improvement of land quality was aimed to improve vegetation, reduce salinity, conserve water and conserve biological diversity. The National Water Quality Management Strategy (NWQMS) included groundwater and sewage systems, reclamation of ground water and storm water in urban areas and water management in rural areas. The Murray-Darling Initiative was aimed to improve water management, improve water quality and supplies, conserve the Basin’s natural environment and construct and maintain water reservoir. The National Drought Policy agreed upon by the Federal and State governments aimed to manage climate variability through adoption of sustainable farming practices. Other programs included National Wetland Management Program and National Strategy for the conservation of Australia’s biological diversity23. Stormwater management has become crucial to improve water resources in Australia in the recent times. For example, in Melbourne, the stormwater system consists of 25,000 km of street drains, 1100km of main drains and drainage channels, and 5000 km of waterways24. In 2003, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to form the National Water Initiative to improve water conservation projects across the country and particularly at the basins, implement aquifer and watershed scales, enhance the water markets and trading and improve the stormwater management and reuse. Thus, the attitude of policy makers as well as communities over drought management has changed over time. Since Australia is predominantly an agricultural country, drought is a crucial issue. In the early years, the government adopted an interventionist stance and attempted to provide support to farmers in times of extreme climatic variations through subsidies and price support. It was more a rural assistance program in the face of climate variability than drought management practices. However, it is now recognized that rather than crisis management, long term risk management is needed to tackle droughts. Hence, the focus has now shifted to sustainable agricultural procedures and conservation measures in the face of climate changes due to greenhouse emissions. While droughts occur in Australia largely as a result of its geographical location, it is also induced by human development activities. Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from high energy use, industrial activities and change in land use patterns has increased the regional temperatures. This, as well as the El Nino Southern Oscillation disturbances, has resulted in the recurrence of droughts. Despite the frequent recurrence of droughts since long, little drought mitigation steps were adopted in Australia. As has been observed by various ecologists and climatologists, droughts were earlier looked upon as uncertain events that could not be prevented. Hence, the government played the role of crisis management by providing farmers subsidy and price support. Only recently, the criticality of climate monitoring and remedial actions is being recognized. Subsidies have largely been withdrawn and long term water and energy conservation mechanisms are being adopted. Although Australia has so far resisted from signing the Kyoto Protocol of climate change, the government is increasingly recognizing the importance of adopting measures for reducing greenhouse emissions and regional warming to prevent droughts. In the present drought period that began in 2005, drought and water conservation has become a political issue with the governments of individual states vying upon each other to announce water saving projects. Many farming towns in Australia are adopting measures to save and recycle water while huge amounts of money are being spent to prevent reduced streamflow. Works Cited Australian Academy for Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), Water Recycling in Australia, http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=598 Australia Government, Australia’s National Report to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Department of Environment, Sports and Territories, 1994 BBC News (2006). Australia ponders climate change, Phil Mercy, 24 December, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6204141.stm Botterill, LC, 2003, 'Beyond drought in Australia: the way forward', in LC Botterill and M Fisher (eds.) Beyond Drought: People, Policy and Perspectives, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, pp. 197–207. Botterill, LC and Fisher, M, 2003, Introduction. in LC Botterill and M Fisher (eds.) Beyond Drought: People, Policy and Perspectives, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, pp. 1–7. Climate Institute, Climate Change and Drought in Australia, http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/cia1/downloads/ri_cc_drought_aust.pdf CSIRO Land and Water (2000). Consultancy Report to the Cox River Review Joint Working Party commissioned by the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation, CSIRO Land and Water Government of Australia, http://www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/drought3.htm Guardian (2006). Australia suffers worst drought in 1,000 years, John Vidal, November 8 Heathcote, R.L (1969). Drought in Australia: A Problem in Perception, Geographical Review, vol 59, No 2, April 1969 Heathcote, R.L (1991). Managing the Droughts? Perception of Resource Management in the face of drought hazard in Australia. Vegetation, p 219-230 Laughlin, Greg and Anthony Clark, Drought Science and Drought Policy in Australia: A Risk Management Perspective (2003), Bureau of Rural Sciences, presented at the Expert Group Meeting on Early Warning Systems for Drought Preparedness and Drought management, Lisbon, Portugal, 5-7 September Mudd, Gavin M, The Sustainability of Mound Springs in South Australia: Implications for Olympic Dam, paper presented at the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Commission on Mineral and Thermal Water Meetings, Ballarat Australia, September 21 to 24, 1998 Newton, Peter W (2001). Australia State of the Environment Report, Human Settlement Theme Report, Department of Energy and Heritage Planet Ark, Australian Drought towns run out of water, June 20, 2005, http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31310/newsDate/20-Jun-2005/story.htm Stern Reviews of the Economics of Climate Change (2006) Technical Annex: The Science of Climate Change. Retrieved from January 24, 2007 from http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/695/0E/Oxonia_Technical_Annex_FINAL.pdf Watkins, Andrew B (2005). The Australian Drought of 2005. WMO Bulletin. 54(3), July Worrell et al, Drought Relief and Rural Adjustment Policy in Australia, New South Wales Agricultural Economic Services Unit, http://www.odi.org.uk/pdn/drought/worrell.pdf Read More