New research reveals why the mighty Darling River is drying up – and it’s not just because we’re taking too much water

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 03:58:13 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-why-the-mighty-darling-river-is-drying-up-and-its-not-just-because-were-taking-too-much-water-239923>

"Water flows in mainland Australia’s most important river system, the
Murray-Darling Basin, have been declining for the past 50 years. The trend has
largely been blamed on water extraction, but our new research shows another
factor is also at play.

We investigated why the Darling River, in the northern part of the basin, has
experienced devastating periods of low flow, or no flow, since the 1990s. We
found it was due to a decrease in rainfall in late autumn, caused by climate
change.

The research reveals how climate change is already affecting river flows in the
basin, even before water is extracted for farm irrigation and other human uses.

Less rain will fall in the Darling River catchment as climate change worsens.
This fact must be central to decisions about how much water can be taken from
this vital natural system."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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