Some very impressive photos from NASA are showing us just what a little bit of rain can do to NSW's parched ground.
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NASA released satellite images that show just how green the state has become since mid 2018.
At the time the first photos were taken in 2018 the drought was only just beginning to take hold, before peaking in late 2019 and summer 2020, so things would look a lot worse comparing photos from 2019 to the current ones.
However, these photos are an important reminder, that while COVID-19 is at the front of everyone's mind at the moment, many continue to battle through the drought at the same time.
While things aren't as dire as they were 12 to 24 months ago, as these photos show, the drought is still affecting many communities.
The widespread green in the photos sure looks impressive, but it's only the early stages of recovery and shows that things are picking up bio-physically.
NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) research agricultural climatologist Anthony Clark said things are far from over with areas in the far west and south around Monaro still impacted by the drought.
Much of the state is still drought affected.
And while things are set up now for recovery, things could turn around quite quickly if we don't receive the winter rain that has been forecast.
"We're still at risk of a false recovery or entering back into drought," Mr Clark said.
A number of areas are used to classify a drought in a particular area, including crop health, financial recovery and productivity.
Just because it's green doesn't mean the drought is over.
Many communities remain on water restrictions, and we must continue to do what we can to conserve water.
Just in case the rain doesn't fall.
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