Excerpt
This last summer was one of the worst growing seasons in over a decade for farmers in the Midwest. With little rain, crops roasted in the summer sun, turning ears of corn into shriveled nubs. Then in a cruel twist of irony, late summer rains appeared, too late for corn, which had been cut for silage, but the thunderstorms did cause flooding and a handful of drownings that made national press. What didn't make the evening news is that scientists predict that because of global warming this summer's erratic rainfall patterns and high intensity storms will become the norm in future growing seasons.
Late last year, the Soil and Water Conservation Society brought together a panel of experts to study how changing rainfall will affect soil erosion on cropland. Drawing from a range of expertise—climatologists, hydrologists, and soil erosion experts—they released a report that found climate change will cause rainfall to increase across much of the United States while bringing about desertification to other states. Most importantly, global warming will lead to more frequent disastrous rains, compounding the effects of soil erosion.
To understand rainfall events, the group attacked the issue from two angles …
Footnotes
- Copyright 2004 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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