The south West of Western Australia has undeniably gotten drier,...

The south West of Western Australia has undeniably gotten drier, Trees granddad is correct though inland Australia and the North West have seen increasing rainfall.

"The Australian desert is receiving more rain than ever. It's a trend that scientists expect to continue.

Does the increased rain in the Australian desert mean the red Australian Outback is turning green?

Maybe... but certainly not as fast as the previously greener parts of Australia are turning brown.

It's November 2006, well into another searing spring and summer, and Australia's agricultural regions in the South West, South and East are struggling through another year of the worst draught ever.

Nothing new here.

But the latest revelations of climate experts regarding some Australian Outback regions have attracted a lot of attention.

According to people like Dr David Jones (head of the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre) Australia's rain hasn't actually disappeared, it has shifted. Shifted towards the north western and central regions of Australia, the sparsely populated Australian Outback.

Take Giles for example. Giles is a small Australian desert weather station, located at the corner where Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory meet. It's the edge of the Tanami desert. In the last 50 years the rainfall in Giles has doubled.

No doubt, an increase from 150 mm to 300 mm means that we are still talking about a desert. Giles is one of the driest places on the Australian continent, so the doubling of its rainfall hasn't led to visible changes yet. But what has been measured in Giles can be seen all across Australia's North West.

Regions like the Pilbara, the Kimberley and the northern parts of the big Australian deserts were already less arid than the southern desert regions. The average increase of 100 to 200 mm of rain does make a difference here. Marginal areas that were used for growing crops and grazing cattle aren't marginal any more. Parts of the Kimberley even saw their rainfall increase by as much as 300 mm! That is a lot of water."

link


Looking at this government Climate Change piece one can even conclude that although the South West is getting drier, WA as a whole is getting more rainfall.

link