The ‘Big Dry’ Austrailia Case Study

Question 1

What was the annual rainfall in 2006

Answer 1

40-60% below normal over most of Australia south of the Tropic of Capricorn

Question 2

What were the causes of the Big Dry

Answer 2

• El Niño
• Population growth
• Murray-Darling river basin

Question 3

How might El Niño have cause the Big dry

Answer 3

• During El Niño the easterly trade winds weakened
• and the waters off eastern Australia cooled to create high pressure with descending air and stable dry conditions. + diminished rainfall
• This period of hot, dry weather created the drought conditions which became known as the ‘Big Dry’ over central and eastern Australia

Question 4

How might Population growth in the Murray darling river basin caused the Big Dry

Answer 4

• 2 million people live in the basin
• it can’t maintain its current population growth in relation to access to water
• making the country overpopulated

Question 5

How might the Murray-Darling river basin have cause the Big Dry

Answer 5

• Domestic uses of water such as washing cars and filling swimming pools put pressure on scarce supplies of water during the drought
• 40% of Australia’s agricultural produce comes from this region and it contains 70% of irrigated crop land and pasture
  —> there’s not a lot of water to spare

Question 6

What were the social consequences of the great dry

Answer 6

• people in rural areas left due to a lack of water, putting greater pressure on the population of cities
• rural suicide rates soared

Question 7

What were the economic consequences of the Big Dry

Answer 7

• Farmers had to sell cattle as they could not afford to feed them
• Food prices rose as Australia became more dependent on imports
• water bills rose 20% in 2008
• tourism was negatively affected
• agricultural production was severely affected
• 10,000 people directly employed by the cotton-growing industry were affected
• the number of dairy farms reduced by more than half

Question 8

What were the environmental consequences to the Big Dry

Answer 8

• loss of vegetation, wildlife and biodiversity as well as soils erosion
• grassland turned into scrubland
• soil erosion: soil dries out, becomes looser and easier for the wind to blow away
• Energy from HEP was reduced leading to more pollution as Australia resorted to use of fossil fuels
• Water quality reduced as toxic algal outbreaks occurred in depleted rivers, dams and lakes

Question 9

What were the responses to the great dry

Answer 9

• In 2012 the government paid out $1.7 million a day in drought relief to farmers.
  —>This helped farmers to stay in business and keep their farms going.
• Laws were passed to ban car washing and limit showers to 4 minutes.
  —> This helped to conserve water supplies for drinking and other more important uses.
• People also recycled their water using ‘grey water’ from showers and washing to save water for other uses.
• The government also subsidised rainwater storage tanks for homes so that people could store and use rainwater.