From: "Gary Wiltshire" 

On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 22:17:28 -0400, John Beckett
 wrote:

> "Gary Wiltshire"  wrote in message
> news::
>> Damned straight about Australia.  They could have a brilliant future
>> with
>> a resultant cultural, political and economic shift in the Anglosphere of
>> the future.
>
> There are many problems with Australia that many people are not aware of
> (I'm not suggesting this applies to you).
>
> Vast areas of North America have 20 feet or more of good quality top
> soil.
> There is nowhere in Australia like that. The Australian continent is
> ancient (meaning it has had little tectonic disturbance). It is flat, and
> what topsoils exist are easily washed away. When rain does fall, vast
> areas are flooded for weeks (because there is no fall to cause
> fast-running rivers to drain the flood).
>
> There is a thin belt of arable land around the rim of Australia. The soil
> in these areas is eroding, and needs constant fertilisation.
>
> I'm just warning that any people planning to mass-migrate to Australia as
> a backup plan may find it not as hospitable as they hoped.
>
> John
>

That old loose soil needs vegetation to anchor it -- vegetation that would
not survive the current climate but might the coming one.

--
Gary Wiltshire

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