Good morning. This morning we are continuing ourlook at Australia and its natural problems. Actuallydryness, or aridity, as it is generally called bygeographers, is probably the most challenging ofAustralia's natural problems and so it is veryimportant in this course for you to have a goodunderstanding of the subject. For Australia, water isa precious resource and its wise management is ofthe greatest importance.
As I have said, Australia is a dry continent, secondonly to Antarctica in its lack of rainfall. Long hours ofhot sunshine and scaring winds give Australia an extremely high rate of evaporation, farmore than in most other countries. It is estimated that approximately 87% of Australia'srainfall is lost through evaporation, compared with just over 60% in Europe and Africa and48% in North America. You generally think of Africa as being a very hot and dry place, but it isnot in comparison with Australia. In many parts of Australia standing water, that is dams,puddles and so forth, dry up rapidly and some rainfall barely penetrates the soil. The reason forthis is that the moisture is absorbed by thirsty plants.