By Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, Jul 8 2004 (IPS)

Vast numbers of Australians live around the coastline because that is where most of the fresh water is in an otherwise very arid country. But now, according to a recent report, Australia’s fresh water supply could be threatened if the country fails to cut down on its greenhouse gas emissions.

The report entitled ‘Climate Change – Solutions for Australia’, by the Australian Climate Group (ACG) says the country will increasingly suffer from water problems, extreme weather fluctuations, and natural disasters such as floods and droughts if it fails to cut its greenhouse gas emissions – amongst the highest in the world – by 60 per cent by 2050.

The ACG is a newly formed alliance of scientists, the finance sector and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Group member David Karoly, an Australian professor of meteorology at the U.S.-based University of Oklahoma, started work on climate change in 1985, setting out to prove that it was not happening.

But now, the scientists in the ACG are urging Australians not to dismiss the prospect of a one to two-degree change in temperatures as minor.

”Consider that there is a difference of only about five degrees between the modern climate and the Ice Age thousands of years ago,” the report said.

According to the report carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions are contributing to the frequency and severity of the drought and a significant decrease in rain in the populated and productive south-east and south-west of the continent.

”The continent has warmed by half a degree over the past 50 years. By 2030, the mean temperature will increase by as much as two degrees and by 2100, this could reach over five degrees, accompanied by a sea- level rise of almost a metre,” warned the report.

The ACG added rising temperatures would also increase demand for water but at the same time there will be more loss due to evaporation.

”The quality of water will also deteriorate as water temperatures rise and algal blooms flourish,” the report pointed out.

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard has repeatedly refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, saying imposing targets on industry would be bad for business.

But Howard says Australia is on track nevertheless to meet the reduction in emissions mandated by the Kyoto pact. The Australian government is on record saying the global agreement would be meaningless without the support of the United States, which has also rejected it.

The Kyoto Protocol obliges industrialised countries to cut emissions by 6 percent from the level in 1990.

The ACG report also warned that global climate change would endanger Australian tourism icons like the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park wetlands and the country’s alpine ski regions.

”The Howard government’s refusal to effectively reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol will cost the tourism industry up to 8 billion Australian dollars (5.7 billion U.S. dollars) and thousands of jobs by 2020,” Opposition Labor tourism spokesman Kerry O’Brien said in a statement.

The report calls on the Australian government to establish market mechanisms for trading greenhouse gas emissions to provide the business sector with a powerful tool to meet and exceed reduction targets.

”This would drive investments in clean energy technologies, bringing in a whole range of employment opportunities,” said the group.

The ACG findings come at a time when Australia’s major cities are facing water restrictions, historically low water levels in the dams and one of the driest winters with no rain in sight. The report warns that current water supplies and continued increasing demand is unsustainable.

Ironically, in this driest continent in the world, people are the most extravagant users of water.

On average each Australian uses 1.31 million litres each year and figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that annual water consumption increased by 12 percent between 2000 to 2001.

Domestic consumers use eight percent of the water, industry consumes 14 percent and agriculture gulps 70 percent of the resource.

While the debate continues over the cause of climate changes, the fact is south-western Australia now gets 20 percent less rain than it did 30 years ago.

Alarmingly for the rest of the country, scientists believe this crippling dry weather has been moving east, arriving in states like New South Wales and Victoria in the last few years. And it’s there to stay.

In a bid to seriously cut down water usage in New South Wales, the state’s Utilities and Energy Minister Frank Sartor wants to integrate all water charges into the user costs of the consumer.

This would involve rolling the fixed charges for sewers and water into the usage charge, which would double the price of water over five years from its present 98 Australian cents (70 U.S. cents) a kilolitre.

If step pricing comes into effect, an average annual household consuming 300 kilolitres will not pay any extra charges. But those who use 500 kilolitres or more annually – a typical household with a swimming pool and large garden – will pay an extra of at least 200 Australian dollars (140 U.S. dollars) a year.

Under the state plan, every contract for a new dwelling must demonstrate water consumption 40 per cent below the city average and 25 per cent fewer greenhouse emissions.

Prof. Deo Prasad of the Built Environment Studies (Sustainability) Department at the University of New South Wales in Sydney has demonstrated that minister Sartor’s plans can be implemented.

He recently built an ecologically self-sufficient suburban home and installed a 2,500-litre tank for rainwater collection, which is used for washing and cleaning. The so-called used ‘greywater’ is utilised for gardening.

“I have used passive solar architecture – that is the design works around the sun,” he told IPS.

”We have recycled the timber and reused concrete and bricks. The house has a half kilowatt photovoltaic system on the roof, which has helped reduce electricity demand by 60 per cent over the year and also contributes to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” explained Prasad.

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