What’s causing the drought?
Australia has suffered periodic droughts throughout history, so is not yet succumbing to wholesale panic. But the fear of many is that the weather in southeastern Australia – which has the continent’s major rivers and the bulk of its population – is on a long-term drying trend due to climate change. That makes the question of how to deal with the lack of rain hugely political. John Howard, a relative climate-change sceptic, is banking on an end to the drought if the country is to achieve its forecast growth rate this year of 3.75%, but economists reckon the ‘big dry’ could see GDP fall by 1%.
