Vocal Voices

We have seen the damage done when unexpected flash floods happen here in the UK, but when they are deliberate - wow!

Townsville in Queensland, Australia, is being flooded with nearly 2,000 cu/m of waters every second from the local dam due to monsoon rains of over one metre in a week! More than 20 times the average for the time of year.

20,000 homes will be affected, but with the dam so dangerously over capacity something has to give to avoid what could be an even bigger disaster. What a dilemma for the authorities and what a terrible position the poor residents find themselves in. It is a no-win situation for all involved and the monsoons do not usually end till April. I hope they all stay safe.

It is a fact that when the climate warms, the atmosphere can hold more water. More water in the atmosphere, more rain in the monsoon.

The problem is that it takes us decades to build new infrastructure to cope and we haven't even allocated a budget. However it now only takes a single decade for the atmosphere to absorb more water than our defences can support.

What goes up will, eventually, go down.

The last time this happened the global oceans dropped by 6mm in one year. That 6mm of water fell in the monsoon zone in one year.

6mm of global ocean water level is, well, in terms of water, astronomical.