Farmers and ranchers around the world face increased heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall, making it harder to grow livestock and crops. This means less financial security for farm families and, globally, bigger threats to people’s access to nutrition.
USDA Photo by Preston Keres
By Elizabeth Montoya-LaPorte, Intern, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds
Virginia faces a diverse set of flood risks, with sea level rise on the eastern coast, landslides exasperating flood risk in the west and more intense and frequent storms throughout the Commonwealth. Between 2020 and 2060, the number of buildings exposed to an extreme coastal flood is projected to nearly double, while annualized flood damages could increase by 400 percent.
To build resilience against these increasing flood risks, lawmakers created the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF) in 2020 under the Virginia Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act. Since its establishment, the CFPF has supported 86 communities and 212 projects, investing more than 200 million dollars in resilience-building funding.
By Sukie Kevane, EDF Intern
Dairy and beef producers are feeling the strain of heat waves — and so are their animals. Longer, hotter summers are making it harder for cows to stay healthy and productive. Heat stress lowers milk yields, weakens cows’ immune systems and can even threaten fertility.
For farmers, the impacts go beyond animal health: heat stress reduces milk yields and fertility in cows, which translates directly into financial losses from lower production and higher management costs. Lower productivity also increases the methane intensity of any milk or meat produced.
But across the world, producers, veterinarians and nutritionists are responding with new tools and time-tested strategies to help livestock cope. These solutions matter not only for animal health, but for food security, rural livelihoods and climate resilience.
Flooding is a growing issue for communities across the United States. And the challenge is not just coastal. In recent years, inland communities that sit near rivers and waterways have experienced more frequent and intense flood events, causing infrastructure damage, social disruptions and economic losses. Much of this can be attributed to the increases in precipitation combined with declines in watershed health of the surrounding lands due to development and agricultural use.
By: Allie Olsonoski, Project Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds and Rachel Rhode, Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds
Flooding is a growing challenge for communities across the United States, particularly in coastal areas. More frequent and extreme storms, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and land subsidence (sinking) are putting people and property at greater risk. While many states and localities are actively working to reduce risk for communities, large infrastructure solutions like levees and seawalls aren’t always possible or practical—especially in rural areas.
In many cases, a more cost-effective solution is not to try to block the water, but to adapt to it. One approach that has been rising to the top is employing ‘nonstructural’ practices, namely home elevation.
As more states begin exploring home elevation programs, they will need to push for local engagement strategies in the communities where they work, in order to be successful.
Just weeks ahead of the 20th anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, coastal Louisiana is facing a devastating blow to the incredible work that has been done since those tragic storms to reverse land loss and reclaim the title of the Great Bayou. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project (MBSD), a groundbreaking effort to restore land loss, has officially been killed by the Landry administration.
By: Eve Cooke, Fellow, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds
Over the past four years, Florida has been battered by severe storms, tropical cyclones and record-breaking floods. From unnamed downpours to devastating hurricanes like Ian, Helene and Milton, these events have caused more than $100 billion in damage—disrupting families, businesses and ecosystems alike.
In a recent EDF survey, a range of experts across sectors in Florida stood united on one thing: nature-based solutions are key to protecting people and property from extreme weather and believe there is a clear path forward to incorporating these solutions into building resilience.
The widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices in Europe could strengthen crop resilience to extreme weather and support the long-term sustainability of farms, communities and ecosystems – an urgent need as the region faces record-breaking heatwaves. Despite the benefits of adopting cover cropping, no-till, nutrient management, alternative manure management and other regenerative practices, many farmers are hindered by financial barriers, including high up-front costs and risks.
Last year, the U.S. faced its fourth most costly year of extreme weather, contributing to more than $20 billion in agricultural losses. As this trend of increasingly extreme weather continues, modernizing agricultural insurance in the U.S. is a crucial step toward protecting farmers’ financial stability and reducing the risks they face when transitioning to climate-resilient practices.
A few weeks ago, the Canadian province of Manitoba declared a state of emergency as a result of wildfires, with Manitoba Premier noting “this is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most peoples’ living memory”. This marked an ominous start to the country’s wildfire season, with about 225 wildfires burning, half of them out of control, by mid-June and some already turning deadly. Canada is not alone in facing a crisis. Wildfires are intensifying in fire-prone areas, and emerging in regions that have never previously grappled with high fire risk. In January, outside the typical fire season, Los Angeles was on fire for weeks. In 2024 alone, countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, the Republic of Congo, Greece, Portugal and Canada battled devastating blazes.
