Australia ponders climate future - BBC

Last Updated: Sunday, 24 December 2006, 09:17 GMT

Australia ponders climate future

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Parts of Australia are in the grip of the worst drought in memory.

Rainfall in many eastern and southern regions has been at near record
lows. On top of that, the weather has been exceptionally warm.

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Conservationists insist the "big dry" is almost certainly the result of
climate change and warn that Australia is on the brink of environmental
disaster.

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"The politicians truly believe this is a five-year or six-year drought
that will break sometime in 2007 or 2008. But it might not break until
2050 and we aren't thinking in those terms at this stage," Professor
Pitman told the BBC.

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