I know that this is a surfer site but I have not seen any other area that I can pose this question. So please excuse me for being here but I am curious. Hurricane Katrina flooded the southern USA in August of 1995; why is / what is causing the flooding of Australia. I have searched the internet for "cause," the news reports that I have seen do not say specifically why the continent of Australia is flooding. Is it rising ocean water or rain storms.

My heart goes out to the people affected by this tragedy. I know first hand the loss associated with this kind of catastrophe. I can offer this: be kind to one another and patient with yourself. It will take time but you can and will recover from this. I hope that your government will be supportive of its people and offer aid to those who need assistance. God bless Australia.

Its nothing like what you blokes are saying, being caused by rising sea levels or deforestation. The reason why we are getting floods is the amount of rain that is falling. Its been rainy in eastern Australia for about two years. The land is soaked. So any rain that falls now is not absorbed by the land.

We are not talking about built up land full of concrete driveways, houses and shopping centers. We are talking about millions of square kilometers of bush and farmland. The land is so flat out west that it doesn't take very much rain to cause a flood. Plus most people live close to watercourses as these are usually the best places to live.

The rainfall pattern is a normal climatic event for Australia and can be explained without having to resort to human induced climate change or other such theories.

A poem written about 100 years ago sums up the Australian environment pretty well:

www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive/mycountry.htm

La Nina -I think. A weather pattern that happens every so many years..I think the sea temperatures are warmer than normal in the areas around the top of Australia/ tropics and this causes more rain. We've had the opposite El Nino ( ?) for years - colder sea temps which gives us drought. This weather pattern has broken the decade long drought but unfortunately its a strong ones so its gone a bit overboard the other way..floods..

I heard on the internet that its due to the fact that Australians are all infidels and it was gods revenge for activities in the middle east.

But that may have been from a religious nut!!!

recent "expert" was interviewed on the box.

he put the blame squarely on global warming ......

as the experts have been saying for a long time now. as the earth heats, more moisture occurs in the atmosphere, that then results in stronger storms, more intense rainfall, and more intense snowfall.

without kicking the old duck back to life that is.

I look at a flood as an inability of water to escape fast enough therefore causing a back up in the system, after all you can have lots of rain and not have a flood.

Central Queensland is particuarly prone to flooding as many smaller streams flow into larger rivers and high tides often prevent the water flowing out to sea quick enough - particularly around Rockhampton and especially Mackay. Looking at BOM charts it's quite a regular pattern after such a prelonged drought.

What I find interesting is how developers are allowed to build low set houses in low lying areas. Having lived in thesea areas for 10 years, I always noticed how so many older homes are built off the ground - usually around 1m-2m. Bad for people and the reef but great for lake Eyre and the Murry Darling system.

stehsegler said...

Gestalt said...
as the experts have been saying for a long time now. as the earth heats, more moisture occurs in the atmosphere, that then results in stronger storms, more intense rainfall, and more intense snowfall.

The problem with this theory is that if we get warmer temps it shouldn't snow at all. I grew up in Germany and remember back in the late 70s and 80s we had plenty of winters with 50cm plus snow falls. Then in the 90s the snow fall somehow slowed and we had a number of winters with almost no snow cover. The last 5 years have been increasingly colder and the snow fall has increased as well. So not sure what to make of the theory that global warming causes harsher winters. Sound like someone is trying to justify their research (aka funding).

On the subject of experts... about three years ago I went to see several so called medical experts all telling me I wouldn't be able to have kids. My 14 month old daughter is currently keeping me up at night because she is teething... Experts? Yeah right...

I just think what comes around goes around, the worst flooding I've seen since I moved to Cairns (Barron River) was in 79 but there has been heaps worse before I landed here and it'll happen again. I'm not debunking Global Warming, I just don't think we can blame what's happen on it this time.

stehsegler said...

Gestalt said...
as the experts have been saying for a long time now. as the earth heats, more moisture occurs in the atmosphere, that then results in stronger storms, more intense rainfall, and more intense snowfall.

The problem with this theory is that if we get warmer temps it shouldn't snow at all. I grew up in Germany and remember back in the late 70s and 80s we had plenty of winters with 50cm plus snow falls. Then in the 90s the snow fall somehow slowed and we had a number of winters with almost no snow cover. The last 5 years have been increasingly colder and the snow fall has increased as well. So not sure what to make of the theory that global warming causes harsher winters. Sound like someone is trying to justify their research (aka funding).

On the subject of experts... about three years ago I went to see several so called medical experts all telling me I wouldn't be able to have kids. My 14 month old daughter is currently keeping me up at night because she is teething... Experts? Yeah right...

i'm no climatologist so i can't really explain the why but from what i've read it's more a case of global warming causing a shift in the regional weather patterns, there is a lot of info online about why global warming has increased the intensity of snow stroms and rain storms. i guess at the end of the day at this stage the warmer temps are not occurring around the globe at the same time. there are still record cold snaps occurring as we still have summer and winter seasons.

i think the argument as to whether global warming is real or not is over. just about every major scientific organisation globally is telling us something is happening.

my understanding from a qld view point is that the monsoonal trough will be able to travel further south due to warming which will increase peak rain falls in central queensland. the fitzroy basin which is prone to flooding COULD find that it floods more regularly in the coming years. the state government recently published a paper dealing with flooding to inland qld.

http://www.climatechange.qld.gov.au/pdf/sag-report.pdf

that's not to say we won't find ourselves back in sever droughts again in the future or more flooding before the seasons out.

sausage said...

But I'm only 60% to blame as someone distracted me [see www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Show-Pony-Alert-Brighton-WA/ ]

Beaut ! This catfight thread is more entertaining than all of ours combined !

not to down play the tragic outcomes in your local area JP as there are some sad stories there.

but it's good to have wind.

Gestalt said...

not to down play the tragic outcomes in your local area JP as there are some sad stories there.

but it's good to have wind.

true Gestie..it's quite odd this season very wet indeed but going down to the local spot provides for good not the usual direction wind. Yeah every night on the tube shows flooded towns and landslides..what's happening everywhere?