Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): climate change

As Texas drought worsens, two bills can advance sustainable, equitable groundwater management

By Vanessa Puig-Williams / Bio / Published: April 26, 2021

Drought conditions are now confronting 75% of Texas, putting more pressure on critical water supplies.

Thirty-two cities or water supply entities in Texas are under voluntary or mandatory water restrictions. Flows in a majority of river basins across South Central Texas have dropped below or far below normal. And the Edwards Aquifer, which stretches across thousands of acres in South Central Texas and serves San Antonio, has dropped nearly 10 feet below average levels for March.

Amid this grim news, state lawmakers have the opportunity to take two important steps toward more sustainable and equitable management of vital water resources.

Posted in Agriculture, Water / Also tagged drought, groundwater, rivers, sustainability, Texas, water use | Read 1 Response

Farmers’ bottom lines at risk as growing conditions change

By Aurora Barone / Published: April 6, 2021

Iowa currently finds itself in a “Goldilocks climate,” with just the right measure and timing of humidity, rainfall and heat that help make the state a national leader in corn and soybean production. However, new research shows that climate change threatens to upset this balance.

Small shifts in rainfall and temperature can have considerable impacts on crops and farmer livelihoods. To better understand how these shifts could impact farmers, Environmental Defense Fund partnered with K·Coe Isom, an agricultural accounting and business advisory firm, to produce an in-depth report that quantifies the potential localized economic impacts from these shifts that Iowa corn and soy farmers could face as soon as the next 10 to 20 years.

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged corn, farm finance, farm revenue, iowa, risk, soybean | Comments are closed

California is facing another drought, but I’m still hopeful. Here are 3 reasons why.

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: April 1, 2021

It’s a daunting time to be working on water in California.

The Sierra snowpack measurement came in today at 59% of average statewide, making this the second dry winter in a row. The drought conditions led state and federal officials to announce last week painful water cuts for farmers and for municipal water systems that are already sending requests to customers to conserve water.

It’s disheartening to envision farmers again trying to make do with very limited supplies; salmon stranded in warm, dwindling rivers; and cities facing water cutbacks while wondering if the next wildfire will erupt in their neighborhood.

Posted in Water / Also tagged agriculture, california, drought, groundwater, sustainability, sustainable groundwater management act, water quality | Read 1 Response

Climate leadership is water leadership. This Arizona bill is neither.

By Christopher Kuzdas / Bio / Published: January 26, 2021

Climate change is already having sweeping impacts across Arizona — from devastating wildfires to increases in heat-related illnesses and deaths to declines in safe and reliable water supplies. Unless global carbon emissions are reduced to net zero in the coming decades, these impacts will only multiply and increase in severity across the Southwest.

We must embrace all available tools to reduce carbon emissions to help stave off worsening climate change, which is why we oppose HB 2248, a bill that would undermine progress on Arizona’s proposed clean energy rules. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture, Water / Also tagged Arizona, clean energy, colorado river, HB 2248, net-zero carbon emissions, water future, water supplies | Comments are closed

Why does the West keep burning? Here are 3 key factors.

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 17, 2020

“Climate change sucks.” This was the text I sent to a friend last Monday as we griped about the many fires burning throughout the West — from Oregon and Washington to Idaho and my home state of California. The fires have filled the air with visible smoke and invisible fine particulate matter making it unsafe to spend any significant time outside.

My quick text exchange was not the right forum for a detailed articulation of the many causes of this year’s heavy fire season. Neither is the politicized verbal tennis match that has taken off on Twitter and in the news.

Posted in Agriculture, Water / Also tagged air quality, california, COVID-19, forest management, pollution, wildfire | Read 2 Responses

Congress is advancing bipartisan climate resilience policies in 3 key ways

By Mark Rupp / Bio / Published: June 30, 2020

Congressional leaders across both parties are taking action to build climate resilience, and for good reason.

Natural disasters and extreme weather know no political affiliations or geographic boundaries, and are impacting all Americans with greater severity. Our country desperately needs investments in infrastructure that can withstand these disasters, while also increasing public safety, lowering the cost of disaster recovery, and spurring job and economic growth. Read More »

Posted in Coasts and Watersheds / Also tagged bipartisan, Congress, disasters, flooding, infrastructure, policy, risk reduction, transportation | Comments are closed

I’m a farmer, and I’m testifying to Congress about climate-smart agriculture

By Guest Author / Published: June 24, 2020

By Brent Bible, a first-generation farmer in Lafayette, Indiana.

Farmers like me can make our businesses more economically resilient while also contributing to climate solutions, and we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

That’s the message I’ll be sharing when I testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee today at a hearing about the Growing Climate Solutions Act — a recent bipartisan bill that would boost the agricultural economy and help make climate-smart agriculture the norm. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged Congress, conservation, farmers, Growing Climate Solutions Act | Comments are closed

Congress just took two actions to boost climate resilience in agriculture

By Callie Eideberg / Bio / Published: June 8, 2020

Many farmers have been feeling climate impacts on their operations through more variable rainfall, warmer nights, and shifting planting and harvesting windows. These impacts only compound other uncertainties in the agricultural economy.

Policies that help reduce production risk and increase yield resilience are good for farmers and the farm economy. Conservation practices like cover crops and fertilizer optimization can do both, while also providing broader benefits like emissions reductions or water quality protections.

Congress recently took two important, bipartisan steps to reward farmers for being part of the climate solution. Here’s how these policies will help build climate resilience for U.S. agriculture.

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged bipartisan, Cover Crop Flexibility Act, farmers, Growing Climate Solutions Act, USDA | Read 1 Response

3 things Cuba can teach us about boosting climate resilience in agriculture

By Katherine Angier / Published: March 11, 2020

Fernando Funes gestured at the breathtaking scene of contour terraces brimming with greens.

“Everything here is about working with nature,” he explained to me and a group of visitors at his family farm just outside of Havana, where we admired the diverse assortment of crops, chickens strutting through a grove of trees, and colorful rows of beehives.

The opportunity to visit Fernando’s farm and learn about agricultural conservation practices in Cuba was part of a larger three-day symposium on sustainable agriculture and food systems organized by Environmental Defense Fund, the Foundation of Antonio Núñez Jiménez and the Vermont-Caribbean Institute.

The symposium allowed experts and stakeholders from Cuba and the Americas to learn from each other and make some surprising connections between the considerably different Cuban and U.S. farming systems.

Here are three takeaways that can help inform thinking on how to produce food in a changing climate.

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged Cuba, farming, sustainable ag, watershed | Comments are closed

To preserve its coast, Louisiana must plan for the future

By Guest Author / Published: February 10, 2020

By Dr. Denise Reed, Professor Gratis, University of New Orleans

Coastal Louisiana has changed a lot in the last century. By comparing aerial photographs from the 1930s to today, we can see that change across the coast — from an ecosystem once dominated by extensive marshes and lush swamps to one increasingly covered with open water and “ghost forests.”

Each year, our coast creeps farther inland as marshy shorelines erode due to boat wakes, wind and waves. This is called marsh edge erosion, and it’s one of the primary causes of Louisiana’s current land loss crisis.

Future land loss, however, will be driven by different causes. To better understand and prepare for future scenarios, EDF convened a team of scientists from its own organization, the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, The Water Institute of the Gulf and the National Wildlife Federation. Together, we used computer models and data from Louisiana’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan to look ahead 50 years and explore the effects of varying sea-level rise and subsidence rates, known as relative sea-level rise.

The recently published results were illuminating — and sobering. Here is the main takeaway for Louisiana:

Climate change accelerates land loss.
Read More »

Posted in Coasts and Watersheds / Also tagged Coastal Master Plan, land loss, Louisiana, sea level rise | Comments are closed