Report paints bleak picture of future Sydney

A report commissioned by the government of New South Wales has warned of the harsh realities that Sydney could face in the future, according to the BBC.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation study suggests that temperatures in the coastal city could rise by five degrees C above the global average.

This would result in an upsurge in droughts, with nine years out of every ten-year period being hit by a severe lack of water in 2070.

The report also warns that residents in Sydney need to cut back on water usage by 50 per cent over the next 20 years in order to make the region a sustainable settlement.

Although the study focuses on a worst-case scenario for the area, it certainly poses some challenges for one of Australia's prime tourist locations.

State officials told the BBC that it was a doomsday scenario, but one which must be faced.

Along with the US, Australia is one of only two industrialised nations that refused to sign up for the Kyoto protocol which came into force last year after being drafted in 1997.

Progress in climate change discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos led the prime minister Tony Blair to believe that all nations were close to thrashing out a new set of guidelines for when the Kyoto deal expires.