Climate Change Of Arizona And The Southwestern Part Of The United States

Dr. Crimmins raised several alarming question during his talk on climate change in Arizona and the Southwestern part of the United States. The most prominent question was how will climate change impact agricultural practices? With the annual average temperature rising, and the type of precipitation changing, Earth is facing a climate change. Ultimately, Dr. Crimmins brought up the question will we be able to adjust our agricultural practices to compensate for climate change?
Dr. Crimmins addressed this question by discussing the evidence for climate change. The annual average temperature has been steadily rising. 2014 was the warmest year on record, which isn’t surprising considering eleven out of fifteen recorded years have been considered “warm” years. This isn’t surprising once you take a look at the precipitation levels over the past fifteen years. Thirteen of the fourteen years recorded have been considered “dry” years. The type of precipitation we have is also changing: instead of having a supply of snow ready to thaw in the spring, we are getting more rain than snow, and we don’t have enough storage for all of the excess water. With the climate changing, we need to assess how we will continue to increase crop yields even with rising temperatures. The major problem here is how we will irrigate crops. Those that are reliant on rainfed crops will have to modify their irrigation practices in order to sustain crop yields. There will also have to be modified water storage.…