Time to think about droughts, says Niwa

David Wratt

A meeting to address the potentially catastrophic increase in droughts predicted to hit New Zealand this century was held in Christchurch yesterday.

The number of severe droughts to affect the country is predicted to increase by two to four times, according to research by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

"So the sort of drought we now get once every 20 years in the east of the country might occur once every five years or so towards the end of the century," said Dr David Wratt, chairman of the Royal Society's New Zealand climate committee.

He said New Zealand was likely to move towards more droughts in the east, particularly in Canterbury, Marlborough, Otago and the east coast of the North Island.

"The meeting was held to get information out about the way drought may change under a changing climate, and to help people to start thinking through some of the ways of adapting to that."

The day-long meeting was attended by about 60 local and central government officials, farmers and scientists.

"It's not just climate change, there are also quite a lot of natural variations in the climate which leads to drought in some years."

"Communication between scientists, farmers and local government is important so everybody understands what the situation is ... we are building on a lot of skills and expertise out there in the community," he said.

"This isn't about trying to frighten people with ... it's really about getting information out, about helping people to start thinking about how to deal with the issue.

- NZPA