What problems does Australia face in the future?

Answer 1

At present, the health of the Murray River system is critical. This is especially so at the lower end where Lakes Alexandrina, Albert and the Coorong lie. Drought has depleted the water levels and uneven water allocations have resulted in high salinity levels, the development of acid sulphate soils and the release of toxic heavy metals from the soil. These poison the wildlife in the area, stock, and are a risk to humans who either have contact with the water or ingest fish that have absorbed the toxins. The state government of South Australia have a proposal and have even begun work on a weir upstream which will turn the lakes into saltwater thus destroying the ecology of the area.


Drought is an ongoing, major environmental problem. There is always at least some part of Australia in drought, and environmental effects include:

• increasing the danger of bushfires, duststorms and other drought-related natural disasters
• increased desertification, i.e. once fertile land becomes desert, a situation from which the land rarely recovers
• causes death to native animals, not only from lack of food and water, but also because drought can drive introduced species such as foxes and feral cats, which tend to be hardier than the native animals, to kill more native animals in the quest to survive.

Answer 2

Water production.