Weather

“In just over a year, the Clarence Valley and Kempsey have experienced drought, floods, bushfires and now another flood. Many other communities on Australia’s east coast are also dealing with their third or fourth significant natural disaster since 2019” (The Guardian, March 23, 2021).

Around the globe, more and more people are moving into cities. By 2050, the United Nations expects that nearly 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities—up from 55 percent today (UN.org, May 16, 2018). Densely populated cities put increasing stress on aquifers, naturally occurring underground water reservoirs. As droughts continue and aquifers empty, the structure of the clay and sand in the aquifers changes and begins to collapse.