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To: Wharf Rat who wrote (338)	4/23/2007 10:39:01 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 49044

Threat to food crops as Australia prepares to turn off farmers’ water Bernard Lagan, The Times, Australians have been told to pray for rain or face a ban on irrigation in the main food-growing region so that there is enough water to drink. The Prime Minister’s warning yesterday heralded a dramatic increase in food prices and the prospect of tens of thousands of farmers having to watch their crops fail. John Howard said that an expert panel had advised the Government that the worst drought in the nation’s history left it no choice but to turn off irrigation systems in the agricultural heartland of the Murray-Darling basin in the east. Its 55,000 farmers supply virtually all of Australia’s vegetables, stone fruits, citrus fruits, cotton and rice. It is also home to many of its vineyards. Food prices are expected to rise immediately and there were predictions last night that scores of farmers would be forced to walk off their land. Winemakers said that the 2008 vintage would be crippled. ... Years of drought have devastated many small towns as farm incomes have shrunk, but Mr Howard said that the experts had made clear that the situation was now “unprecedentedly dangerous”. If water supplies were not shut off to farmers, it would be impossible to guarantee that people in inland towns and cities would have enough water to drink or wash. Jolyon Burnett, head of the Irrigation Association of Australia, said: “If it continues like this we will see food becoming increasingly scarce and it will be reflected in the price of it. Annual crops simply won’t be planted.” Ben Fargher, head of the National Farmers’ Federation, said supplies of stone fruits, grapes, avocados and almonds would be seriously affected for years. Once trees died, it would take four or five years for replanted trees to produce fruit. Winemakers predicted that the 2008 vintage would be even worse than this year’s, which has suffered a 40 per cent drop in the grape harvest. ... Mr Howard’s plan includes upgrading pipelines, making farm irrigation systems more efficient and improving storage systems. But yesterday his appeal went higher: “We must all hope and pray there is rain,” he said. (20 Apr 2007) ODAC Comment: The conversion of corn to ethanol in the USA is not the only thing sending corn, wheat and soya prices up. Australia, normally a wheat exporter, is currently experiencing the worst drought in its history, and it looks like food production there is about to nose dive. If the Australian government had planned properly years ago and treated its water as a scarce and valuable resource, it would not be in such dire trouble now. It, and most of the rest of the world, seems to be following the same example for Peak Oil. Ignore the problem, then when things come to a head, hope and pray. If you like Australian wine, buy it now whilst you still can. Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim Kathy Marks, The Independent Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation. The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position. The Prime Minister, John Howard, a hardened climate-change sceptic, delivered dire tidings to the nation's farmers yesterday. Unless there is significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, irrigation will be banned in the principal agricultural area. Crops such as rice, cotton and wine grapes will fail, citrus, olive and almond trees will die, along with livestock. .. Releasing a new report on the state of the Murray and Darling, Mr Howard said: "It is a grim situation, and there is no point in pretending to Australia otherwise. We must all hope and pray there is rain." But prayer may not suffice, and many people are asking why crippling water shortages in the world's driest inhabited continent are only now being addressed with any sense of urgency. .. (20 Apr 2007) ODAC comment: The Independent tends to be more direct with its descriptions of situations than The Times. energybulletin.net

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (338)	4/23/2007 10:53:06 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 49044

Global warming will devastate coast: expertPublished: Saturday, 21 April, 2007, 08:22 AM Doha Time KOLKATA: Towns and cities along India’s eastern coast will be devastated with global warming intensifying cyclones and rising sea levels eroding vast stretches of the shoreline, a climate official said yesterday. Experts warn that as temperatures rise, the Indian subcontinent - home to about one-sixth of humanity - will be badly hit with more frequent and more severe natural disasters such as floods and storms and more disease and hunger. “...global warming has started to show its far-reaching effects here,” said Pranabes Sanyal, the eastern India representative of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA). “Many towns and cities along the coast will be devastated by the changing climate in coming years.” Millions live along India’s 3,700km eastern coast and remain vulnerable to storms, flooding and tsunamis. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed some 230,000 people, around 16,000 of them in India. Sanyal said the wind speed of cyclones hitting the eastern states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa had almost doubled to 250km per hour from 150km per hour in 2000. In addition, sea levels in some parts of the Bay of Bengal were rising at 3.14mm annually against a global average of 2 mm, threatening the low-lying areas of eastern India. Water levels off the coast of Khulna in Bangladesh were rising at an even higher rate of 10mm every year, Sanyal added. Officials say rising sea levels are eroding one metre of land every year along the coast of West Bengal state, inundating more and more coastal areas every year and leaving them “highly vulnerable”. India plans to conduct a study on its 7,500km coast to look into ways to combat the increasing vulnerability to climate change. – Reuters gulf-times.com