The Mississippi River Basin is sensitive to two major risks – flooding and poor water quality – and future climate change effects will continue to severely increase these risks. However, a natural solution to supporting the Mississippi River Basin (MRB) is natural infrastructure, which consists of structural or perennial vegetation, and provides multiple ecosystem services with the potential to reduce flooding and nitrate loading pollution. Our research shows that wetlands and floodplains are the best natural resources to reduce flood risk and nitrate pollution. Read More
Growing Returns
New EDF mapping analysis identifies natural infrastructure use across watersheds
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged climate resilience, natural infrastructure, natural infrastructure projects, nature based solutions, watersheds Comments are closed
How will climate change affect U.S. crop yields?
As the UN climate conference kicks off in Egypt, food and agriculture are central to negotiations for the first time. More severe droughts, warmer temperatures and heavier rainfall fueled by climate change are making it harder than ever for the world’s one billion farmers to grow food and fiber. While some farms and regions are more vulnerable than others, climate change will affect farmers everywhere.
Here in the U.S., where farmers have a long history of steadily increasing yields, climate change will likely cause crop productivity gains to stall — or even reverse — as soon as 2030.
Posted in Climate Resilience Tagged adaptation, agriculture, climate change, corn, cover crops, farmers, food, iowa, kansas, Minnesota, soybeans, sustainable agriculture, wheat Comments are closed