Thanks Marty, Sean,
Very articulate, well argued.
Chris,
The problem is for reasons of chemistry and aggregated suphates in the river beds, long term drought releases these toxins into the water, and once stagnant for a few months it slowly becomes quite acidic, almost like battery acid. This kills all aquatic life, of course, and since Oz is so dry and so many farmers depend on this water for irrigation it has huge repercussions for food production, and in one case, Adelaide, city water supply. It truly is a dry continent.....
Australia, the Mediterranean and areas of Florida, Italy, Bangladesh and the Nederlands will be severely affected by global warming and rising sea levels. Food supply in particular will diminish in selected areas world wide (while increasing in others, chiefly near the Arctic), and we will see a new kind of refugee fleeing starvation. With an already high world population, the future is going to be well, interesting.
OTOH, in southern Oz we've just had heavy rains, the sun is shining, oil is at $115 a barrell, and God is in his Heaven.....
Get back to work, Hugh.......
Hugh