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Global warming is likely to have significant effect on the Great Lakes. Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.
Climate change stresses likely to cut agricultural output from the nation’s breadbasket
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — The Midwest could be among the regions hit hardest by climate change, according to a trio of University of Michigan researchers who authored sections of the recent national climate assessment.
The region is likely to face frequent and more intense heat waves, water quality degradation and public health threats, with increasing risks to Great Lakes ecosystems.
“Climate change impacts in the Midwest are expected to be as diverse as the landscape itself. Impacts are already being felt in the forests, in agriculture, in the Great Lakes and in our urban centers,” said University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the U-M president on sustainability issues.
In the Midwest, extreme rainfall events and floods have become more common over the last century, and those trends are expected to continue, causing erosion, declining water quality and negative impacts on transportation, agriculture, human health and infrastructure, according to the report, which is open for public comment. (more…)
Filed under: climate and weather, Drought, global warming, Uncategorized | Tagged: agriculture, drought, global warming, Great Lakes, Midwest, national climate assessment | 2 Comments »
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