rationalskepticism.org

Northeast farmers weigh warming climate, drenched fields
Date:
December 14, 2017
Source:
Cornell University
Summary:
Farmers in the Northeast are adapting to longer growing seasons and warming climate conditions -- but they may face spring-planting whiplash as they confront fields increasingly saturated with rain, according to a research paper.

For the past two decades, the Northeast has been getting warmer for longer periods of time. It also has seen a 71 percent increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation events -- more than any other region in the United States, according to the paper. Heavy rainfall, for example, increases the likelihood of diseases such as potato and tomato late blight, along with plant-root fungal problems that stress carrots and other root vegetables.