The Biggest Dry

Australia’s Epic Drought is a Global Warning

The brutal Australian drought has emerged as “The Biggest Dry.” This is no mere statement of hyperbole, scientists tell us. It’s what happens when a nation purposefully designed to use an enormous amount of water collides with a hotter and dryer climate that produces much less rain.

The Biggest Dry is not only a global warning, it is a test of an industrial society’s ability to cope with new and dangerous conditions that threaten its ability to survive

Read the Lead Story

Featured Stories

Idea Central: Collaborative Solutions to SE Australia’s Water Crisis

Fire Hot, Sky Blue, Australia’s Dire Drought Tests Journalists

The Biggest Dry

Australia’s Food Bowl, Like The World’s, Is Drying Up

A Rice Town’s Cry

An Elder’s Prayer for The River

Here’s Something New in Australia: A Plan That Takes Water from Agriculture

Behind Curtain of Fire, A Land Disfigured By Man and Drought

Biggest Dry Photo Gallery

Videos

Idea Central: Collaborative Solutions to SE Australia’s Water Crisis

Fire Hot, Sky Blue, Australia’s Dire Drought Tests Journalists

The Biggest Dry

Australia’s Food Bowl, Like The World’s, Is Drying Up

A Rice Town’s Cry

An Elder’s Prayer for The River

Credits and Acknowledgements

Helpful Links

Agriculture and Irrigation

Ag Force
Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology
Canberra Organic Growers Society
Council of Grain Grower Organisations
Grains Council of Australia
Irrigation Australia
La Trobe University, Department of Agricultural Sciences
National Farmers Federation
New South Wales Farmers Association
NSW Irrigators’ Council
Rice Growers Association of Australia
South Australian Farmer’s Federation
Wheat Exports Australia

Climate Change

Climate Ark
Climate Change, Catchment Runoff and Risks to Water Supply in the South-West of Western Austraila
Climate Change in Australia
Climate Change & Water in Australia
Drought Statements – “A dry February for southern Australia”
Future Climate Change in Australia “Hotter summers, fewer frosts for Australia”
Living with Climate Change – An Overview of Potential Climate Change Impacts on Australia
World Economic Forum Water Initiative

Indigenous Links

Australian Museum Online – Indigenous Australia – Creation Story told by Beryl Carmicheal
Koori Center
Living Kaurna Cultural Centre
University of New South Wales – Nura Gili Indigenous Programs

Government

Austrade
Australia Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Australian Government Department of Climate Change
Australian Government – Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Australian Government, Department of the Environment – Indigenous Australians Caring for Country
Australian Government Department on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australian Government, National Land & Water Resources Audit
Australian Greenhouse Office
Central Darling Shire Council
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
Government of Western Australia Department of Water
Murry Darling Basin Commission
New South Wales Government, NSW Water Information
New South Wales Government Portal
New South Wales Water Information

Other Multimedia

Kahn Brothers
My River ABC Film series – Several short Film interviews
Steaming the River
Wilcannia, Dust Storm Video
Wilcannia MOB

Organizations

Australia Conservation Foundation
Australian Securities Exchange
Conservation Council of SA
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Darling River Run
Guide to Wilcannia NSW
Nature Conservation Council of NSW
Pacific Institute
Save The Murray
Sunshine Coast Environment Council Inc.
The Long Paddock, Wilcannia
The Nature Conservancy
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
World Wildlife Fund – Australia

Water Resources

Australian Wetlands and Rivers
Centre for Groundwater Studies
Designing Water’s Future
savewater.com.au
State of the Darling – Interim Hydrology Report 2007
Streamwatch
The World’s Water
University of Adelaide, Water Research Cluster
Waterwatch Australia

Wildfire

Climate Change Models Predicted Devastating Australian Wildfires
Hot and Dry Australia sees Wildfire danger rise
International Association of Wildfire
Nasa – February 28, 2009 Fires in Australia Satellite Image
The Earth Times – Australia’s Fires Taken as a portent of Global Warming
Wildfire Prevention in Australia [pdf]
Wildfires Rage in Australia (slide show)

Wikipedia

Wikipedia “Agriculture in Australia”
Wikipedia “Drought”
Wikipedia “Climate Change”
Wikipedia “Murray-Darling Basin”