The big dry
What is a drought? In our sunburnt country, a drought is something that lasts more than a few dry months. A useful definition might be a prolonged period of reduced rainfall affecting plants, animals, humans, agriculture and the economy.
The major causes of drought downunder are:
Changes in planetary wind systems
Extended dry seasons in the tropics increase the chance of drought in temperate and subtropical regions.
Warmer temperatures in the Pacific and Indian Oceans make the Southern Hemisphere drier. Because of climate change, the Hadley effect — the term that describes how hot air circulates away from the Equator — is currently pushing air a further 300km away from the Equator than it used to, causing drier seasons in the mid latitudes. The weather patterns El
