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The assigned BlueYouth theme of ‘Thirsty or Flooded’ relates to our country as we are affected by the flooded part of the theme and we have a sufficient supply of clean water to satisfy thirst for the people in our country. However, the inland regions of Australia are affected by droughts as they receive small amounts of rainfall every year which impacts all of Australia as inland regions contain a high majority of farms. Australia is also affected by flooding as we have a plenty of water throughout our coastal regions and parts of Australia are in monsoonal regions which supply large amounts of rainfall.
The theme relates to our pairing school in India as they can fall under both parts of the theme as different parts of India are affected by severe drought and lack of clean drinking water. On the other hand, some parts of India are affected by large floods from the major rivers such as the Ganges that floods houses and crops in the near vicinity. Overall, a large amount of regions in India are largely affected by the BlueYouth themes of Thirsty or Flooded.
Australia has been experiencing both the BlueYouth themes (Thirsty or Flooded) over the last decades as multiple areas of Australia are affected by droughts, such as inland regions which affect the rest of Australia as these droughts affect farms which supply resources to the rest of the country. Furthermore, large amounts of coastal regions are affected by flooding, whether it is from rising sea levels or large monsoonal troughs.
At this time, the Australian Government is taking minimal action towards sustaining water levels in Australia. Currently the city that I live in, Townsville, is undergoing a level three water restriction due to the low water levels in our cities major dam as our region of North Queensland hasn’t experienced a satisfying wet season for a while, and this has impacted on our city. However, a majority of the citizens in Townsville are not fazed by the current water restrictions as many people know that Australia will not have a major water crisis any time soon.
The topic of climate change on Australia is a serious issue and is brought up at a majority of conferences and political meetings Australia is involved in around the world. Climate change and carbon emissions are both problems in Australia with many natural sites such as the Great Barrier Reef being affected negatively by these issues. Australia is affected by climate change with an increasing number of bush fires and wild fires, flooding and increasing severity in storms. For Australians to prevent climate change from majorly affecting their country, we need to cut down on our carbon emissions to stop harming our natural sites that provide such a tourism income for our country. However, for Townsville to really address low water level issues there need to be more serious consequences to enforce that this is a serious matter. A majority of Australians, particularly in our region, do not obey the rules that come with water restrictions such as limited shower times and restrictions on watering lawns. For these rules to be enforced and for people to stop disobeying these rules, the Australian Government must show that if you break them, you will be fined accordingly. The Government should encourage higher fines to the public and more severe punishment if the rules of the restrictions are broken to encourage people to follow the rules.
