Severe Drought in Australia Shrinks Lake

The images above were taken with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite. The first image shows Lake Eucumbene of the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme in southern New South Wales as it was in February of 2005. The second picture shows the lake as it looked at the end of 2006. Falling water levels have rejoined an island to the mainland in the 2006 picture while new islands have appeared in the lake’s interior.

Although some rain in May has lead to a little relief of the severe drought in Australia, nothing can heal the damages completely. According to NASA's Earth Observatory, weather forecasters said it would takes months of record-breaking rainfall to pull the region out of severe drought. For more information on the droughts in Australia, visit the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

• Maps of Recent Australian Rainfall
• Brochure on Living with Drought
• Australian Seasonal Outlook
• The Official Drought Definition