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Natural
disasters
in
Australia |
 Australia is not immune to natural disasters despite
the fact they don't occur with frequency. Due the
vast dimensions of the country, some of this events
are secluded to one or another region and don't
affect the country as a whole. Some storms are even welcome
by surfers and farmers but some others are very
dangerous and had caused death in the past. See
below which are the biggest occurrences in OZ land.
The
Drought is
without doubt one of the most complicated problem
Australia has. Because the vast areas of deserts,
and very low annual precipitation, the country is
very dry, except by a stripe of green vegetation
nearby the coast. Australia in the distant past, had
many parts of its territory submerged in the ocean.
The result is that the soil is salty bringing many
problems for vegetation and agricultural activities.
Water is the key factor in Australia and a possible
problem for its growth. Desalinization of water is
expensive and in case the population doubles today,
it will no water for everybody. It is not a surprise
to have water restriction in many Australian cities
during long periods without rain. Also, due the low
humidity of the air, every summer Australia has to
face its worst enemy, fire.
Forests
Fires
are
among the natural disasters that cause big losses
both humans and material. These fires can break out
by many reasons, but one of the main causes is the
dry air that during summer blows from the deserts to
the coast. As temperatures in the deserts get close
to 50 degrees Celsius, the wind direction changes,
bringing very dry and hot air to the coastal
vegetation. This vegetation under a very strong sun
and with the help of the hot wind, spark an
expontaneous combustion that in one minute can
consume a whole block. Cigarettes buts are another
factor, as well as agricultural fires that quickly
goes out of control. During summer months entire
regions may be on total fire ban. That means you
can't produce any outdoor fire even to cook.
Cyclones in Australia are
frequent but fortunately they don't occur to often
in very populated areas. Mostly of the areas affected
are on the Northern region of Australia
and it very rare when they make their way down
South. The Northeast and Northwest area of the Gulf
of Carpenteria, have very warm sea water
temperatures during summer time. All the time these
waters rises above 26° C. it is like a cyclone to
happen, just waiting for the proper wind. Most of
the summers in Northern Australia produces easily 28
degrees of sea water temperature. Many cyclones are
formed, but not with power enough to cause
destruction. Some of them can be merciless, like the
one that vanished the city of Darwin on Christmas
day of 1974 killing 66 people and flatting out the
city. It was a category 5 cyclone with winds above
300 Km per hour. No more deaths were registered due
a quick response from authorities that evacuated
30000 people before the event took place. The city
was rebuilt by its citizens and government, but
still has to be alert every summer. The South of
Australia, don't receive cyclones, but once in a
while it receives very powerful storms from the
Indian Ocean.
Never
Happens or just once in a while.
Active
Volcanoes
don't exist in Australia, but long before volcanic
activities were registered in many parts of the
territory. Today, volcanoes are dead or in deep
sleep in Australia. The Glass House Mountain, on the
Queensland Sunshine Coast are a beautiful remain
from this era. Mt. Warning on the North of New South
Wales, is another extinct volcano that created a
huge crater and a valley, today known as Tweed
Valley and the Gold Coast. Australia is out of the
ring of fire and tectonic plates movements. That is
the why it never suffers from big earthquakes or
volcanic eruptions.
Tsunamis,
Floods, Tornados, Hail storms
etc..
Australia don't have big earthquakes as said before,
but sometimes some deep terrain accommodation can
eventually happens provoking non-destructive quakes.
But a couple of Thousand of Kilometers outside the
continent, the Pacific plate and the ring of fire
are very active. This
can cause volcanic eruptions and seaquakes big enough
to produce big Tsunamis. There are no records a big
one hitting the East Coast of Australia but it is
possible, and after the Dec 2004 tsunami in
Indonesia, Australia is putting in place a alarm
system to protect residents of coastal areas. Floods
are rare but they occur sometimes in many cities,
and up North Queensland, during the Monsoons or cyclones.
In December of 1999 a hail storm in Brisbane turned
many cars in a lunar landscape after a storm that
produced Tennis size balls of ice. Almost half of
the outdoor parked cars, had damages. Tornados are
very rare, and when they happen are of small size.
The Bass Strait between Tasmania and the Continent
can have big ones during summer time. Thunderstorms
are very frequent specially during months of summer.
Well,
this is it. As you see, Australia also can have
Natural conflicts that may bring problems and death,
but the results of these phenomenas has been causing
a very limited life loss. Until the present
date, the biggest ones are still the wild fires.
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Important
Notice: yesaustralia.com has changed in January
2007 into a newer and more comprehensive
website www.portaloceania.com
The English version on the new website is not
completed yet, so we recommend to stick with this
one for a while.
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