Abstract
As this edition of The World’s Water goes to press in early 2011, eastern Australia is recovering from devastating floods that claimed more than 20 lives and destroyed hundreds of homes. The heavy rains of 2009 and 2010 that caused so much destruction also marked the end of Australia’s decade-long Millennium Drought. Beginning in about 1997, declines in rainfall and runoff had contributed to widespread crop failures, livestock losses, dust storms, and bushfires. Such are the vagaries of water on the continent with the world’s most uncertain and variable climate.
Notes
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Throughout this chapter, costs are reported in Australian dollars. In 2010, it was roughly equivalent to the US dollar.
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Heberger, M. (2012). Australia’s Millennium Drought: Impacts and Responses. In: Gleick, P.H. (eds) The World’s Water. The World’s Water. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-59726-228-6_5
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