Lmst

Water Extraction

"The Great Artesian Basin covers a fifth of Australia and contains water that has been there for millions of years. Now, decades of extraction are taking their toll and traditional owners are fighting a mining giant for compensation. But there are limits to what he can do, with BHP’s extraction out of his control."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-23/water-is-under-pressure-in-the-great-artesian-basin/106002448
#water #OverExtraction #mining #irrigation #TakeCulture #limits #Ramsar #GroundwaterDependent #ecosystems #NSW #GAB #extractivism #IndigenousPeoples

Australia’s Limestone Coast is drying up

"The once crystal-clear lake now often appears steel-grey or green, its water quality compromised by persistent algae blooms caused by excess nutrients in the water from agricultural runoff and wastewater. Waste from the lake’s thousands of visitors also built up, with some guests reporting seeing human faeces littering its perimeter before a portable toilet was installed in January."

“If we don’t do something about it in the next few years, it rests upon our soul. We really should have spoken up and influenced some people to care for it a bit better rather than just take, take, take.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/05/that-sinking-feeling-australias-limestone-coast-is-drying-up
#water #OverExtraction #irrigation #cattle #runoff #pollution #plantations #TakeCulture #SA #Ramsar #birds #biodiversity #EPBCAct

Land degradation and desertification

"Drylands now make up 40% of all land on Earth, excluding Antarctica. Three-quarters of the world’s land suffered drier conditions in the past 30 years, which is likely to be permanent...Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation. Droughts end. When an area’s climate becomes drier, however, the ability to return to previous conditions is lost. The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were, and this change is redefining life on Earth.”

“For the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world, with potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points.”

“Intensive agriculture is the leading driver of land and soil degradation, fuelling biodiversity loss, carbon sequestration decline, and worsening floods, droughts and wildfires – issues rapidly increasing across the globe.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/09/drylands-now-make-up-40-of-land-on-earth-excluding-antarctica-study-says
#agriculture #farming #overextraction #extractivism #soil #degradation #desertification #droughts #DustBowl #ClimateBreakdown #aridity #water #food #biodiversity #FossilFuels #climate