Australia's inland rivers, unrecognisable by 2070?

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Originally Posted by ian4002000

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Farmers will probably have to change farming methods away from chemical farming, chemical farming doesnt seem to be helping the environment.

Ian
Bittern

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I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "chemical farming", but perhaps I could point out that "no-till" farming, generally seen as one of the best ways of reducing land degradation and carbon emissions from burning stubble, is fundamentally dependent on weed killers.

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Originally Posted by Gav 110

Have a read of Peter Andrews book “Back From The Brink”
He believes Australia was covered in rainforest, until the aboriginals started burning off to hunt
Yes it only took whiteman 125 years to finish what it took the aboriginals 10s of thousands of years to start
Peter has found a way of bringing back the bush and rivers[/url]

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Soaking up Australia's drought - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tony Coote and the institute do great work.

I don't think we can blame the Aboriginals for our current land degradation problems, which happened after we drove them off their lands and stopped their traditional farming practices, which covered the whole continent, including the deserts.

Aboriginal farming methods involved hand tilling using digging sticks to aerate the soil and allow roots to go deep. Only fertile lower areas were tilled, with slopes left forested. No chemicals were used obviously, but burning did create charcoal as a fertiliser.
Their crops were mostly perennials such as native grains, although some others such as yams were also planted and harvested. Burning was only done in small patches and the burnt areas were progressively moved over time by extending the burnt area on one side while letting the opposite side grow back.

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

The deserts will just keep spreading in all directions, as farms fail.

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If the farms are failing due to modern farming practises and causing the deserts to keep spreading, wouldn't it be best to change the farming methods bfore the farm fails ???

I am sure organic farming is much better than no till in all cases.

Yes the original land owners didnt degrade the rivers and bugger up the water flow.

Peter Andrews makes sense and his methods are amazing !!

Ian
Bittern

I think climate change, not farming methods, is the underlying reason the deserts are spreading.

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I think climate change, not farming methods, is the underlying reason the deserts are spreading.

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you are probably right, just the climate change has been occuring for the last 125 years and the deserts are growing were the farms have been.

If you have a think about and have a look at Farina and surrounds you may notice that it doesnt look like a place to grow wheat. When the explorers went to Farina in the late 1800's they saw long grass and abundant growth. Then the farmers came ..... I think the farmers were before climate change or at least the pollution induced climate change version.

Ian
Bittern