This weekend, U.N. climate negotiations that were held in Bonn, Germany ended. The two-week talks were aimed at laying the groundwork for faster action to curb climate change and deal with its impacts. The first public draft of the 4th National Climate Assessment was also released earlier this month.
During this River to River segment, host Ben Kieffer is joined by Iowa State University professor of agronomy and climate scientist Gene Takle, and Charles Stainer, who is an associate professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa. They discuss the new report, how it will impact the Midwest, and what recommendations can be made to policy makers.
"Humidity has been going up for the last 30 years, and it continues to go up. This fields a number of different consequences, heavy rainfall, the 5, 6, or 7 inch rainfall events that we seem to be experiencing every year," says Takle. "We're also experiencing a rise in both summertime and wintertime temperatures which are going to be bumping up against our crops."
He adds, "In 2013, we were not able to plant 700,000 acres in Northwest Iowa."
