Tyler Williams, a UNL extension educator who focuses on climate issues, worries about how climate change will affect precipitation.
“In the No. 1 irrigated state for acres, we’re heavily dependent on groundwater and it’s not an infinite resource,” he said. “If we see a decrease in summer precipitation, or even the same precipitation with increased temperatures, we will put a strain on our groundwater and surface water resources.”
As snowpack levels decrease in the Rockies, another consequence of climate change, Nebraska rivers and streams that farmers also draw water from will drop as well.
For Andrea Basche, Ph.D., a UNL agronomy professor who specializes in climate adaptation, the concern is the variability of the rainfall. Heavier spring rains could keep farmers from getting in their fields. Because there aren’t crops to help hold the soil in place, spring rain leads to more erosion, stripping away the earth’s productive capacity.
Climate models and recent history both “point to more water in the winter, spring and fall and less in the summer, which is very bad for the crops we grow,” Basche said.
Another concern is an increase in the number of crop-destroying bugs. Climate change impacts the survival rate, geographical distribution, population size and other factors related to pests and diseases.
“If our winters get warmer, some pests who typically die in our cold winter may be able to survive,” Williams said.
They may also be hungrier. As temperatures warm, the metabolism of pests such as aphids and corn borers speed up.