[ad_1]
The Hawthorne Ferry Terminal, Brisbane, Australia, floods with water, causing boats to be destroyed. (Photo by Peter Wallis/Getty Images).
The death toll due to rising floodwaters caused by flooding in Australia has risen to eight. A severe weather system continues its battering of Australia’s east coast, causing evacuations as well as school closures.
According to the Associated Press, Brisbane and the surrounding areas saw the most severe flooding. More than 2,000 homes had been submerged and another 10,000 were partially flooded. Major roads in Brisbane have been closed while train and ferry services have been halted by the flooding.
All eight deaths were in Queensland, the capital of which is Brisbane. Massive flooding has been caused in part by the fact that some areas have received a year’s worth more rain in the past few days.
Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland Premier, stated that there are more than 1,540 people currently in evacuation centers across the southeast due to rising floodwaters. She stated that floodwaters could affect around 18,000 homes, and that almost 1,000 schools were temporarily shut down.
From Queensland, flood waters are moving southwards into New South Wales. The region’s worst natural disasterSince 2011, the event was described as a once in a century event.
Drinking water at high risk of flooding contamination
An environmental scientist has warned that the flood situation could lead to a disruption in the supply of drinking water for millions of people.
Ian Wright, a student at Western Sydney University, wrote in the online publication, The Conversation, that torrential rains had already forced two drinking water treatment plants to close temporarily in the southeastern part of Queensland. This was reported by Xinhua news agency.
Health authorities are encouraging people to conserve water. One bottle shop in Brisbane already offers free ice to those who are thirsty.
Wright claimed that the problem was caused in part by excessive run-off of soil. This led to “milky brown” flood waters. These could then become more contaminated with various forms of waste matter, potentially creating a “dangerous cocktail”.
Floods and global warming: IPCC report coauthor
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), such flooding episodes and other devastating weather events that Australia has been experiencing are strongly connected with global warming.
“Climate change effects are here. They are important. They are mostly negative, but if they are implemented, adaptation could take the edge off of them,” said Mark Howden, co-author of IPCC’s report and director at the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions (ANU).
“The IPCC’s latest report makes it clear that adaptation finance, policy, and practice must be increased urgently if we are to keep up with climate change. He said that adaptation action is a key foundation for sustainable development.
Ruth Morgan, Ruth Morgan’s ANU colleague, was a lead writer on the IPCC report’s chapter on water. She is now the director at the ANU Center for Environmental History.
She stated that climate change would likely bring more rain to the country’s north, including Queensland, but less to key agricultural areas in its south. Morgan stated that climate change is already affecting Australia’s rainfall. This is how it rains when and how much.
“We are seeing more rainfall in northern areas, while droughts in the south are becoming more severe and likely.” There will be less rain, which means there will be less streamflow into water catchments that supply water to Australia’s capital cities. We will need therefore to think carefully about where and how we use our water.
(With inputs by IANS and The Times of India
**
Download the latest weather, science and COVID-19 updates while on the move The Weather Channel App(On Android and iOS Store). It’s free!
