Australian cities have turned to some very costly solutions when water is scarce. But as the world’s second-highest users of water per person, more efficient use and recycling are key.
At present, the Middle East and North African region contains 7% of the world’s population but only has access to 1.5% of its renewable freshwater supply through rainfall.
Desalination has been proposed as one of many strategies to deal with the water shortages. But the process is known to be expensive and harmful to the environment.
Our civilisation is built on chemistry, and the science has a bright future, with the launch of a new Decadal Plan that will steer the science into the future.
The Millennium Drought ended more than five years ago, but several years of below-average rainfall and El Niño have brought drought back to many parts of Australia. Our latest report on water in Australia shows rainfall is continuing to decline in eastern Australia and increase in the north.
There is a huge global demand for clean water, with poor sanitation and water scarcity causing around 768 million people to go without. In an effort to solve the crisis, an international team of scientists…
The notion that Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet has created a persistent stereotype. Recent weather shows it to be misguided. It suits embarrassed planners, myopic politicians…
What is the best solution to the problem of water security in Australia? Finding an answer to this question is no easy matter. There is still much we don’t know about the nature and impact of climate change…
Desalination plants have been controversial, mostly because of their high energy demand and the waste water they produce. But a new desalination technology uses almost no electricity and has the potential…
Much to the chagrin of Australian governments, water managers and farmers, the continent’s signature climate variability and unpredictability has meant that water is generally at the wrong place at the…