Proposal: drought resolution

In Australia we suffer frequent, severe and prolonged drought conditions (as do many other countries), which is becoming so bad that many ecosystems and farms are now either already non-viable, or under such severe stress as to threaten their ongoing viability.

The sad thing here is the lack of political willpower and scientific literacy to understand the solutions … because those solutions are so ridiculously simple, it just beggars belief we didn’t do something about this 2-3 decades ago.

So here is a small set of some of those solutions, as briefly described as possible (just to illustrate the point):

1. Regulate the domestic importation, manufacture and sales of chemicals and materials – at present, anyone can buy almost anything and flush it into the sewage system, regardless of its toxicity or lack of biodegradability … and it beggars belief that with people proving such consistent lack of responsibility care or concern, that nothing whatsoever has been done about this;
   • Simple laws and regulations should restrict companies from importing, producing and selling any products of whatsoever nature that use any toxic &/or non-biodegradable materials, without first showing technical cause as to why no alternative material(s) are viable … and secondly: showing a management plan for the lifetime of such materials, so that the amount of material not-reclaimed, recycled and returned to earth in the same or similar form and circumstances as they were originally extracted, does not exceed the rate of breakdown of those materials in the environment, thus preventing buildup;
   • Such a management plan should also show that the amount of ecological harm caused before such materials break down, does not collectively (with all other such non-reclaimed materials) cause more damage than the Earth, its ecosystems and species can repair and recover from;
   • If such a regime were imposed, we would have sewage containing only relatively harmless examples of organic chemistry, which means it is very fertile and mineral rich laden water (even if not drinkable);
2. Pump sewage to the inland side of the great dividing range – so that all this water and these organic materials will provide hydration and fertilisation to the soil in order to support local species;
   • Such actions would support the reduction of probability of bushfire, making a lush fertile forest ecosystem to also support other species with new habitat;
   • This would increase the probability of survival of other species in adjacent areas, and as the ecosystem gradually matures (becoming more robust and resistant to environmental changes), it would help the forest spread further, which in turn increases rainfall, reduces evaporation, and reduces local average temperatures;
3. As this forest expands and matures, extend the pipes further inland, supporting new growth.

The fact is our cities waste monumental amounts of water, and if we pumped into this system the additional water from street runoff during rainfall, we would have vast amounts of water with which to green the desert.

Australia could have vast ecosystems AND vast farms … but those who run the economy are incapable of understanding or caring about consequences outside the immediate human perspective of short-term currency based “profits” … because (quite frankly) they’re idiots.

There are a great many other ways in which we could achieve huge goals using low tech approaches … but we need politicians and business people whom are not scientifically illiterate narcissistic arseholes … but this is precisely the attitude and behaviour nurtured and promoted by property trade and currency based economics.