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Drought Essay

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Submitted By lilly34
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In this essay I shall be focusing on the economic, social and environmental impacts of the big Australian drought on the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in south-eastern Australia, extending from Queensland to South Australia (2002-2009). In this context the term drought means an acute water shortage caused by a period of long continuous dry weather.
The 2002–2009 drought, or ‘big dry’, was caused by an El Nino. The trade winds reversed, causing Australia to experience very high pressure. The Murray-Darling Basin usually provides 40% of Australia’s agricultural produce; the basin makes up more than 70% of Australia’s irrigated cropland and provides 75% of Australia’s water. Not only did the 2002-2009 drought significantly reduce farm production during the event but ongoing social, economic and environmental effects continued to be felt in many regions following the return of normal rainfall patterns.

A big social impact of the Australian drought was farmer’s crops failing due to the barren conditions, meaning a loss of income for the producers and higher prices for the consumers. Also many farmers had to sell up and move to the cities. This in turn affects the profitability of many small businesses in rural communities, which lose much of the customer base.
An enormous problem during the Australian drought was the environmental impacts. The drought caused severe loss of vegetation which promoted soil erosion in a lot of areas, as well as dams and watercourses drying up leading to the decline in water quality and often leading to outbreaks of toxic algae. There were an increasing number of severe bushfires due to the intensity of the heat and dust storms were also a big problem destroying many homes and wildlife in its path.
The huge economic impacts of the big dry were farmers had to sell off cattle as they couldn’t afford food to feed them. Prices of energy soared. Water bills were expected to rise by 20% in 2008. The drought wiped 1% of Australia’s economy in 2007. Also nearly 60% of businesses in Victoria had been affected by drought; the rural areas were the hardest hit. Over one third of rural businesses reported a major impact, compared to 10% in urban areas.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Australian drought caused many massive economic, social and environmental problems and impacts across Australia during 2002-2009 affecting the lives of many people.

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