[国际新闻] 澳大利亚遭百年大旱 总理称只能祈雨

日月光

澳大利亚总理霍华德4月19日警告说，澳大利亚正面临着百年不遇的大旱，政府准备切断该国“粮仓”的灌溉用水。
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　　据美国有线电视新闻网报道，霍华德在议会举行新闻发布会说：“目前形势岌岌可危，我们不能向澳大利亚人隐瞒真相，大家必须寄希望和祈祷下雨。”
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　　霍华德说，由于面临一个世纪以来最严重的干旱，澳大利亚主要的农业区默里-达令盆地极度缺水，有限的水资源将只能用于保障当地城市最低的用水需求。他承认，这将为当地农牧业带来巨大灾难。
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　　澳大利亚东南部的默里·达令盆地绵延100万平方公里，面积等同法国和西班牙，农产量占澳大利亚农产值的41%，素有澳大利亚“粮仓”美誉。人在德国 社区1 V6 y# ?; S& g0 Z0 Y' N
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　　根据澳大利亚政府的一份紧急方案，除非在5月中旬前天降大雨，否则当局就要切断该国主要农业区默里·达令盆地的灌溉用水。
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4 |2 x4 g; L( c+ M! mwww.csuchen.de　　对此，澳大利亚农民联合会水利负责人劳里·亚瑟表示，政府计划切断农业用水之举前所未有，闻所未闻。当地果园和葡萄园将因此干枯，需要数年之久才能恢复元气。为此，他们将同政府进行紧急谈判。
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　　当地灌溉企业也表示，他们将不得不在7月1日关闭水龙头，当地农民只能靠天吃饭，许多农民将被迫离开土地，届时澳大利亚恐将面临严重的粮食危机。6 J, C! T  \# R7 _7 H8 x

2 d) C% _3 x5 J& c9 p0 {Howard urges Australians to pray for rain 2 n4 p0 Q* Y1 b6 E& J/ j) r
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Sydney- Australians should pray for rain as the worst drought on record has parched the nation's prime agricultural land and put domestic supplies at risk, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday. Without heavy rains in the Murray-Darling basin in the next six weeks farmers won't get an allocation for irrigation so that townsfolk further down the river system can be assured of drinking water.
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( w$ a5 M$ A; j& w; S人在德国 社区"It's a grim situation and there's no point in pretending to the Australian public otherwise," Howard told reporters in Canberra. "We must all hope and pray there is rain."7 f+ u4 g8 G8 g/ @& \. I8 k% d

* o$ N/ V1 F! g9 [Householders in major cities are already on tight water restrictions and these are likely to be tightened further to cope with a changing climate where temperatures are higher and rainfall is lower. 人在德国 社区; f3 ^0 O0 @7 G2 W% n& G

7 C1 t) x3 c# r, a* a1 [www.csuchen.deMurray-Darling farmers account for a third of agricultural production and three-quarters of irrigated acreage like vineyards and orchards.
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Howard refused to say whether farmers whose wells were dry would be forced out of business. 7 H1 \* Q# H# Y: |

; n; [+ O6 @& c( qwww.csuchen.de"It will be another blow if it doesn't rain, that's self-evident, but I don't want to start using these apocalyptic terms in a general fashion," Howard said. "We know already that the drought has taken up to three-quarters to 1 per cent off our growth - the longer it goes on the harder the impact."% g! ?+ e  c" w" K/ S; E- A" q' D
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New South Wales Irrigators Council chief executive Doug Miell said orchards of oranges, grapes, olives and almonds would not survive the hot summer without water pumped from the Murray-Darling. 7 q+ a2 c" [$ ~" u' b

. G4 p, n* m! U: H"The quality of their produce, if there is any, will be a lot lower than it ever has been and I would suspect most of them would be struggling for income and struggling to survive," Miell said. 人在德国 社区+ E4 V3 {, e" F$ d- F
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Grape-grower Bill Caddy predicted the cut in water supplies would force many farmers off the land. "If we don't get rain in the catchment areas we are going to be in diabolical trouble," he said.
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: F" U; ]+ r( _www.csuchen.deHis alarm was echoed by Winemakers Federation chief Stephen Strachan, who said the country's next wine vintage could be crippled because over half of it was produced in the Murray-Darling.
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/ r, `: h6 q3 i8 HOpposition Labor Party deputy leader Julia Gillard blamed the Howard government for the water crisis, saying its refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on curbing climate change was evidence of its indifference.
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( L, d( C. F" g5 A& ~5 G% _' c9 J"Unless this country addresses the challenge of climate change, future water shortages and future droughts may go from bad to worse," Gillard said. "A mob of climate change sceptics can't fix climate change for this country."