Tutorial Week 8..

I wanted to do more research into the weather patterns and how people are going to live through that before I went further with my community plan.

I spent most of this week's tutorial reading through parts of 'A Change in the Weater' a book about climate and culture in Australia.

Chapter 2: Climatic Outlooks by Neville Nicholls
The affects of El Nino on the weather systems of Australia and India are the main causes of most of our weather systems. Tye El Nino causes irregular rains followed by drought and is a regular occurrence, but not necessarily annually. This ESNO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) is what causes most of the dramatic storm and drought events that we've experienced. As it reoccurs people now understand a little better the predictions and the effect it might have.

I wonder if this is the only weather phenomenon that will be effecting Woodfordia in the future, and if so does that make my prediction of regular seasonal flash flooding followed by droughts too overly dramatic?

Chapter 5: Goyder's Line y Janis Sheldrick
This chapter didn't have as much relevance as the El Nino chapter did but it was very interesting reading about the early settlers adapting to the climate of Australia down south. This 'Goyder's Line' was widely misinterpreted and simply just the imaginary line where enough rain fell to cultivate the land properly. It provided guidance through periods of drought and helped to show where the arable land would lie when people went to purchase it.

While it doesn't hold as much relevance to my project, reading this article has also made me think about listening to and adapting to the land, making sure I put things in the right place.

The following chapters highlighted interesting points of our settlement in the tropics, impacts of climate change and our need for new energy resources, followed by an article on Cyclone Tracy.

Chapter 14 Cyclone Tracy by Bill Bunbury
More than the technical weather position of cyclone, this story provided a psychological insight into cyclones and how they break more than buildings, they can tear apart communities and families. The storm is loud and fast and dark, ripping apart anything in its path. It destroyed most of Darwin. While i don't think anyone can design much to withstand storms of this force, I need to research into structures that will cope better with harsh storms.

References:

Sherratt, T, Griffiths, T & L Robin. 2005. A change in the Weather Climate and Culture in Australia. Canberra: National Museum of Australia Press.