Climate change presents challenges for Iowa agriculture

Dr. Gene Takle will be talking at the Washington County Extension on April 6 at 2:30 p.m. Gene Takle is professor emeritus of agricultural meteorology in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He holds a BA degree in physics and mathematics from Luther College and a PhD in physics from Iowa State University.

Dr. Takle is a co-author of the 3rd (2014) and 4th (2018) U.S. National Climate Assessments, as well as the 2007 global assessment report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the more recent (2020) USDA technical bulletin entitled Climate Indicators for Agriculture. Dr. Takle currently is the coordinating lead author on the Iowa Climate Assessment, a compilation and interpretation of the scientific literature on the variability, trends and impacts of climate change in Iowa.

This talk will provide a brief overview of changes in the global climate and why they are happening. Iowa’s climate also in changing in ways that are both favorable and detrimental to agriculture.

These past and current trends in temperature, precipitation, and extreme events will be described and used in connection with currently used climate science methods to describe Iowa’s future climate trends over the next few decades.

These future climate change conditions, rather than conditions of the 20th century, need to be considered for building infrastructure, managing water resources, producing food, anticipating human health care needs and protecting our natural environment to build a more resilient future.

Pre-registration is not required but helpful to us. Please contact Brandi Dawson at the Washington County Extension and Outreach at 319-653-4811.