Today's lead news item in Melbourne: it's raining

Today's lead news item in Melbourne this morning: it rained during the night.

This doesn't sound like much, but it is helpful to have some perspective.

Climate change and the scarcity of water has been a big issue in Australia in the last year or two. Recent news items in Melbourne have discussed the low amount of water in the reservoirs, the prospect of stage 4 water restrictions, the "thousand year" drought (the worst drought in a millennium), the record lowest rainfall in a 12-month period, the unprecedented prospect of irrigators on the Murray river having no water by August, and various other news items related to the recent scarcity of water and the current (or possibly just-broken) severe drought.

So it is good news that some substantial rain has fallen with more forecast for the next week after a couple of days of soaking rains in March and April. This weekend is going to be a wet weekend and we don't mind a bit.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1926350.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1926294.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1926152.htm
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/state-savours-big-soaking/2007/05/18/1178995363370.html

Level 4? I dunno what you're complaining about. We're on level 5 up here with the prospect of level 6 by August. :(

I hope the rain continues there!

My home state of New Mexico has been experiencing drought for the past several years. Thank goodness they've had wetter weather for several months now, but it still hasn't made much of an improvement in the reservoir levels.

Aliantha;344227 wrote:

Level 4? I dunno what you're complaining about. We're on level 5 up here with the prospect of level 6 by August. :(

We will be on level 4 by August.

I'm not complaining, just adding a bit of local perspective. Your point is pertinent too. There may be a new reservoir for Brisbane, with a reservoir in northern New South Wales one possiblity. (Brisbane is in the southeast corner of Queensland and it was once considered radical to suggest building a reservoir in one state to service the needs of another.)

There is hardly a town in the country that isn't on some sort of water restrictions right now.

bluecuracao;344230 wrote:

I hope the rain continues there!

My home state of New Mexico has been experiencing drought for the past several years. Thank goodness they've had wetter weather for several months now, but it still hasn't made much of an improvement in the reservoir levels.

The same thing is happening here. We had a decent dump of rain in the middle of March and the end of April and again in the last 24 hours. As yet the reservoirs aren't getting the runoff because the water is just soaking into the parched ground. A few more dumps like this and the ground will be full of moisture and the stream runoffs will start increasing.

Next week, more rain is forecast and the first snowfalls of the year are also expected. (the last snows in many places were on Christmas day, last summer)

I don't think the nsw plan is going to go ahead in the short term. Right now they're going mad on the pipeline for recycled water which is a good thing. They're also still looking at daming the Mary River which is a stupid idea imo.

It is more likely there'll be additional desalination plants built if the drought continues.

The situation is dire.

Kingswood;344243 wrote:

(the last snows in many places were on Christmas day, last summer)

Do you realize how strange that sounds to us?

It does sound strange, I have only ever seen snow once, well if a patch of melting snow on the side of the road counts anyway.. Plus I have never had a christmas that isn't atleast 30 degrees celcius or the threat of a bushfire burning my house.

xoxoxoBruce;344251 wrote:

(the last snows in many places were on Christmas day, last summer)

Do you realize how strange that sounds to us?

The cold snap in the middle of summer was rather strange to us as well, I assure you.

Christmas is more usually associated with hot weather, with cold meats and the like as common fare (such as chicken and champagne). It was a rather novel experience for many of us to have some of the traditional hot Christmas fare actually be suitable due to the weather.

I'm doing my Ancient Chinese Rain Dance for all you Aussies right now!

(Hint to UT: this post would be 25% more effective if I could have posted an Ancient Chinese Rain Dance smilie)

We're so dry in Florida that hundreds of wildfires are burning all across the state. This is a natural cycle for Florida, but I can't help but think it isn't a good idea to pass a resolution asking people to pray the hurricanes away that would bring us rain. Andrea already arced back out to sea after teasing us with much needed rain, leaving not a drop to touch land.

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

That in recognition of the first day of Hurricane season, June 1, 2007, the Senate calls upon the residents of this state to pray that God would have mercy on our state and protect us from harm.

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

[QUOTE=Kingswood]
(the last snows in many places were on Christmas day, last summer)

Do you realize how strange that sounds to us?[/quote]News Flash, xoB!

Brianna;344357 wrote:

I'm doing my Ancient Chinese Rain Dance for all you Aussies right now!

That I'd like to see. Can you post the steps? :D

Sorry to hear of your drought situation down under. May all of our wet dreams come true.

BigV;344389 wrote:

News Flash, xoB!

the last snows in many places were on Christmas day, last [COLOR="Magenta"]summer[/COLOR]

Duh

Shawnee123;344394 wrote:

That I'd like to see. Can you post the steps? :D

I can tell you how to do it!

FIRST YOU JUMP TO THE LEFT!


...no, wait...that dance conjures up something else altogether...:D

oh, were you a time warp dancing rocky horror fag? did you throw toast?!

lumberjim;344555 wrote:

oh, were you a time warp dancing rocky horror fag? did you throw toast?!

I can't believe you have to ask.

I also held a newspaper over my head, threw rice, engaged in elbow sex and pointed at new people and yelled "Virgin!"

Gawd what a nerd.

Oh yeah--at the time, my hair looked EXACTLY like Magentas.

I can play the Time Warp on the gittar.
I loooove it!

Elbow sex????

Please explain?

yeah, I've heard of fisting, but that's just plain nasty!

Aliantha;344585 wrote:

yeah, I've heard of fisting, but that's just plain nasty!

Don't knock something 'till you know what it is.

Perverts.

I should think with all the sun Australia gets, solar desalination plants that use the steam to make power would be a good bet.
You don't have enough water and never did, so the future is even worse just from population growth.

When I say not enough water, I mean to exploit the agricultural possibilities you have. You could be very wealthy feeding all those Asians. I think food and water are going to become all the more valuable in the foreseeable future.

Nuclear powered desalination. You bitches better get on the stick or you're just another Indonesian outpost. (Look you know Griff is on a piss but he's freaking right this time.)

I don't really care if it rains down under or not, I want it to rain here and help put out some of these fires and fill up the ponds to save me fish.

Griff;344697 wrote:

Nuclear powered desalination. You bitches better get on the stick or you're just another Indonesian outpost. (Look you know Griff is on a piss but he's freaking right this time.)

Well there's 200 million of them and only 20 million of us. I think we'd be in trouble if they decided to take over.

The best advantage we have over Indonesia is the fact that it's split up into so many little islands and they're not very well organized.

Meanwhile, their fishermen come into our waters and catch stuff they shouldn't be catching, so they have their boats sunk and get shipped home. Actually, here's a fact. Sometimes they come all the way to Australia and make camp on our northern shorlines with their animals and plants. If they're spotted the camps don't last too long.

They get us back by shooting our drug dealers though. Somehow, I think the joke's on them.

Brianna;344627 wrote:

Don't knock something 'till you know what it is.

Elbow sex, after all, being pretty much knocking elbows during a double high-five.:cool:

At least one RHPS showing theater had to ban the use of frozen hot dogs (w/o buns, and not kept in a bun-dance either) after they got one stuck halfway through the screen during the "You're a hotdog..." number.

["We ask for nothing!"
(a beat.) "And you shall receive it -- in abundance!"

What's a bun dance, Frankie?
Well, it can't be big; it holds nothing.
Didn't Frankie do one earlier in the film?

Urbane Guerrilla;344773 wrote:

Elbow sex, after all, being pretty much knocking elbows during a double high-five.:cool:

Thanks for enlightening those who persist on the stubborn (yet righteous!) path toward Quaker Meeting or the Nunnery.

Geesh, some people.

For christ sake Brianna, if you just don't get the joke then say so. There's no need to carry on is there?

No, there isn't any carrying on, is there Ali? It was you who didn't get the joke.

Only your usual twat-ish behavior, though.

gawd, you're a bore.

You really have no idea Brianna. Not even half a clue.

I don't mind being a bore to imbeciles.

Brianna;344882 wrote:

Only your usual twat-ish behavior, though.

gawd, you're a bore.

Ha!! so I am not the only one!

Gawd, I'm slipping. Here's a fight, and me not in it! [insert all remotely appropriate Smilies here]

Who would ever fight with you UG? ;)

It's been sprinkling in SE qld today. Very novel.

Now the danger is that you'll get good and wet and everyone will think the drought is over.

I don't think there's too much danger of that happening. We need noah and his floods to fix the probs we're having here these days.