New research shows megadroughts lasting up to 20 years or more have occurred in Australia in the past and could happen again.New climate modelling suggests Australians should be preparing for the possibility of megadroughts lasting more than 20 years.
"We have this situation where on the one hand, there's the possibility for naturally occurring megadroughts that can last multiple decades and might come along every maybe 150 to 100 years," Dr Falster said.The majority of Australians have lived through a climate disaster and they are increasingly afraid of having to move away from the place they live due to extreme weather events, a new survey by the Climate Council shows.
The research team used 11 different models to look at how Australia's climate has changed over more than 1,000 years, but there was also evidence of past rainfall changes in tree rings to help paint a picture of when megadroughts had occurred.Dr Falster hoped the research would help farmers and the wider community be prepared for longer and more severe droughts.
"Set some plans up and you need to be also quite prepared to change those plans as things develop, but think about it well before it happens so that you've got some thought process in place that you're going to be dealing with the lack of feed and water.
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