A lot of people are on the fence about climate change. They think maybe some weather events over the past few years are just within the normal range of variability. Besides, everyone knows weather is cyclical, and maybe this is just a passing cycle. Or maybe it’s all a hoax — fake news.
If that’s your perspective, Dennis Todey, director of the USDA Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, Iowa, has some news for you. And it’s not fake.
“I wish I could tell you that it’s just a cycle, and that it’s going away, but all signs point to other issues,” says Todey, who has a doctorate in meteorology from Iowa State University and is a former South Dakota state meteorologist. “If you look at global temperature data over the past 2,000 years, the temperature changes we’re seeing now are quite unprecedented in recent history.”
Greenhouse gases
Todey has plenty of statistics to back up his claim. While there are multiple causes, he says the biggest culprit is greenhouse gases that are beginning to make subtle and not-so-subtle changes in normal weather patterns.
These changes include: increasing levels of carbon dioxide and water vapor in the air; warming temperatures throughout the world, including the Midwest; more rain in the Midwest’s transitional seasons; warmer summer nights; milder Midwestern winters; more variability in weather, including more rainfalls of 3 to 5 inches or more; low snowfall totals in the mountains of the Western U.S.; winter dormancy breaking way too early; changes in the jet stream; and more.
Todey points out that many changes have both an upside and downside. For example, warming trends have increased the frost-free period in the Midwest by about 10 days in the last half century. This could allow producers to use longer-season varieties.
But warmer weather has also allowed expansion of the Corn Belt into places like North Dakota and Canada, creating more competition.
Todey adds that increased precipitation levels have made it increasingly unlikely that a drought somewhere in the Corn Belt will significantly impact grain prices.
Other negatives present more causes for concern, however. More moisture in the air plus warmer nights can lead to decreased corn yields, increased dew levels and more disease issues. Milder winters allow more insects, weeds and invasive species to overwinter successfully. Hotter weather can cause additional stress on livestock. Increased precipitation levels in spring and fall can lead to more difficulties planting and harvesting, with accompanying side effects, like increased soil compaction.
Todey says some weeds react positively to increased carbon dioxide levels, including Canada thistle and kudzu. “Kudzu loves CO2,” he says.
Seasonality of increased precipitation is a bigger problem than the overall increase, Todey says. Potentially most troubling of all is the flooding and damage changing weather patterns can do to soil.
“Nobody wants more spring precipitation,” he says. “In the spring, soils are particularly vulnerable to erosion and nutrient loss. Heavy rains can even do a real number on frozen soil.”
Take action
While Todey says climate change is here, and you will see more evidence of it in years to come, there are things you can do to mitigate its effects. The most important step is protecting your soil.
“Reducing tillage helps by leaving the soil covered,” he says. “Cover crops also help by providing additional cover and roots to protect the soil and soil structure in the off-season, and by increasing absorption capacity, thus reducing runoff.”
For any farmers who haven’t yet installed pattern drainage, Todey recommends doing so. Tile helps remove excess soil moisture and can facilitate timely planting and harvesting, as well as reduce soil compaction from trying to perform operations on soil that’s too wet.
Finally, Todey says his organization, Midwest Climate Hub, was created by USDA four years ago specifically to help farmers cope with climate change. Located within the Agricultural Research Service in Ames, Iowa, the hub’s goal is to provide information to producers in an eight-state Midwestern area to help them cope with climate change through the innovative links of research, education and Extension partnerships.
Climate change real for this farmer
COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE: Ray McCormick began no-tilling and using cover crops years ago to help improve the ability of his soils to withstand wild swings in rainfall and other weather extremes.
Boone writes from Wabash, Ind.