What happens when what used to be abnormally dry becomes the new normal?
Drought will become a redundant term as Australia plans for a permanently drier future, according to the nation’s urban water industries chief.
And climate experts yesterday predicted the present drought would continue, signalling a cruel summer for farmers and sparking fears of higher food prices.
“The urban water industry has decided the inflows of the past will never return,” Water Services Association of Australia executive director Ross Young said. “We are trying to avoid the term ‘drought’ and saying this is the new reality.”
Important question for the Southwest, isn’t it?
Worth noting too that this high government official (like top officials in the UK, China, and Greece this summer) blamed “extraordinary” weather conditions in their nations on climate change — suggesting as did Mr. Young that what once was extraordinary will soon be the new ordinary.