Australia’s climate

Questions: 1. Give three reasons why Australia’s climate is so dry.

Australia is one of the continents that experience unpredictable climate and extreme low rainfalls and high temperatures. In essence, the average rainfall is estimated to be less than 250mm. Scholars attribute the dry climate and the high temperatures to the high rates of evaporation that the region experiences, a situation that makes it difficult for land to keep water after it has rained. However, the three principal reasons why Australia’s climate is so dry include; its latitude, the position of the equator, and the El Nino (Pittock, 2011).

Latitude of the country is around 30 degrees south and north is influenced by massive pressure systems in areas where air descends and there is minimal rain formation. The equator is influenced by low pressure systems, as air rises and thus, more moisture is created, a situation that leads to the formation of clouds. In addition, the continuous El Nino rains enhance these climatic conditions of dryness. Additional factors that improve the dry conditions in Australia, they include the location of the continent, whereby it is far from the sea. In this regard, winds carrying rain from the east and the mountain cause clouds to drop rain prior to reaching the inland (Pittock, 2011).

Q2. Briefly explain how the alteration of hydrological cycles by Australian agriculture has led to soil degradation.

Soil plays a significant role in enhancing carbon and water cycle, a situation that allows room for crop production. However, the situation is different for Australia in which scholars assert that individuals will struggle to meet the demands of greenhouse if they do not engage in soil improvement activities at the moment. Australia is among the countries that are influenced by global climate changes, which means that Australian agriculture is not stable (CSIRO, 2008). As such, farmers have devised new strategies of enhancing agriculture, in the country, but which are said to have altered the hydrological cycles, and thus, are likely to result to soil degradation. Hydrological cycle is the water movement to and from the atmosphere (CSIRO, 2008).

On the other hand, soil degradation refers to the minimization of quality and quantity of soil, which results when soil lacks nutrients such as organic matter, which helps sustain the growth of plants. Unfortunately, soil degradation is one of the most difficult factors to restore in order to enhance its productivity capacity, which means that it is better to prevent soil degradation, prior to experiencing its effects. In this case owing to the dry climate in Australia, farmers have altered the hydrological cycles, in an attempt to increase the ability of soil to hold water and sustain agriculture. Although, this seems as a good idea, it is possible to lead to soil degradation. That is, the presence of water on soil for a given period determines the plants to grow, as well as the organisms that will live in the soil in order to ensure that it is healthy and productive (Kim, et al. 2009). In this regard, the alteration of hydrology cycles affects soil chemistry, due to a change in the organisms and crops planted on the land. For a long period of the year, Australia remains dry; however, alternations in hydrology cycles help maintain moisture in most agricultural land, which is not healthy on the soil. Thus, it is likely to result to soil degradation, as the soil does not have the necessary characteristics that sustain moisture for a long period (CSIRO, 2008).

References

CSIRO, 2008. Water Availability in the Murray-Darling Basin. A report to the Australian Government from CSIRO. CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Projects,  Australia: CSIRO.

Kim, H. S., Croke, B.F. W., Jakeman, A. J. and Chiew, F. H. S., 2009. Towards model adequacy for identifying the impacts of climate and land use on catchment hydrology, in R.S. Anderssen, R. D. Broddock & L.T.H. Newham (EDs), 18th World IMACS Congress and MODSIMO9 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Interfacing Modelling and Simulation with Mathematical and Computational Sciences (pp 3393-3399). Australia: Cairns.

Pittock, J., 2011. National Climate Change Policies and Sustainable Water Management: Conflicts and Synergies. Ecology and Society, 16(2), 25.

Style: Harvard

Pages: 2

Questions:

1. Give three reasons why Australia’s climate is so dry.

2. Briefly explain how the alteration of hydrological cycles by Australian agriculture has led to soil degradation.