How Climate Change Will Affect Agriculture #2

Climate change is negatively affecting agriculture in Arkansas. Changing weather patterns, increased precipitation, rising temperatures, and reduced water supply are all challenges for farmers. The increase in heavy rain events, flooding, and storms is a major concern. Rising temperatures and CO2 levels promote weed and pest invasions, impacting crop survival. Increased pesticide use and reduced nutritional value of crops also pose threats to human health. Adapting to these changes will be difficult and costly for farmers. However, there are strategies that can be implemented on national and state levels to mitigate these effects. Hello, this is your host, Samantha Williams, recording on UA Little Rock's campus in my dorm room. The date is April 24th, 2023. To recap, last episode, we learned that climate change is negatively affecting crops in numerous ways, such as drought that causes water shortages in the soil and surface water, and an increase in intense weather events that drown crops and increase soil erosion. We also learned that the U.S.'s changing weather patterns cause more hot days each year. Now, we're back again to learn more about how climate change affects agriculture, but this time, we're going to be focusing a lot closer to home, the state of Arkansas. Arkansas' largest industry is agriculture. We grow some of the most important crops in our nation, one of the most important being rice. But we also grow soybeans, cotton, grains, wheat, peanuts, and oats. Because of the world's growing population, our Kansan farmers will have to have more productive crops to feed everyone, but this will be challenging because of the damaging effects of global warming. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most urgent climate-related concern for Arkansas is the increase in heavy rain events, severe flooding, and storms. In fact, since 1958, the amount of precipitation falling during heavy rainstorms has increased by 27% in the southeastern region of the U.S. Looking at projections, summers and springs will experience a decrease in precipitation, while winter, and especially fall, will see an increase in precipitation. As we've seen, this will cause soil erosion and leaching of nutrients from the soil. The rising temperatures are also a main factor in determining the yields of crops. The average annual temperatures in the southeast region have increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with the greatest warming occurring during the summer. Temperatures are projected to increase by 4 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century. Hotter summers are likely to reduce yields of corn and rice, which are two of the most important crops in the state. To take a closer look at how changing temperatures will affect farmers, we can look for the differences in hardiness zones. Farmers use hardiness zone maps to determine what crop would be best to plant where. These maps tell farmers the average minimum winter temperature in a particular area. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, from 1990 to 2012, hardiness zones have migrated north about 175 miles due to climate change. This means that minimum average winter temperatures across the state have increased in many areas, changing what kinds of crops are viable for those areas. Migrating crops will be difficult on farmers because they would have to change their whole growing process to introduce new crops, costing time and money. Take note that farmers are supposed to adapt to these changes while also increasing crop productivity. Another challenge facing farmers is the decreasing supply of water. Rising temperatures increase evaporation, which dries the soil and decreases the amount of rain that runs off into rivers. The National Climate Assessment projected water availability to decrease, with the western portion of the southeast region experiencing the largest reduction in water availability. Climate change is also likely to increase water demand for all purposes, including irrigation because of the increase in evaporation, while also shrinking water supplies. Arkansas will be hit pretty hard by the reduced water supply. It ranks second in the nation for the volume of water pumped for irrigation, and we're already overusing the water resources we have available. About 80% of Arkansas' irrigation demand is taken from the lower Mississippi River Basin. However, only about 48% of the annual withdrawal is sustainable. Furthermore, the effects of an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere promotes weed and pest invasions. It also increases certain concerns about public health. Many weeds, pests, and fungi thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter climates, and increased CO2 levels. This makes the ranges and distribution of weeds and pests likely to increase with climate change. Farmers' crops previously unexposed to these species will have a hard time surviving these invasions, meaning that farmers will have to spend even more money than they already do having to fight off these invaders. Additionally, increased pesticide use will harm human health. Though some studies show that a rise in CO2 levels can stimulate plant growth, it also reduces the nutritional value of most food crops. Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide reduce the concentrations of protein and essential minerals in most plant species, including wheat, soybeans, and rice, all plants that are important to the agriculture industry in Arkansas. This is also another threat to human health. In conclusion, Arkansas will be hugely affected by climate change. Our most prominent industry will be challenged in many ways that we will have a hard time adapting to. From droughts, to flooding, to reductions in water supply, our crops are being threatened. But there are things we can do to persevere through this. Next time we will discuss in detail what we can do on the national and state level to negate these damaging effects. See you next time!