Climate change in the Midwest

In the Midwest, climate change has been reduced to a coastal issue – if an issue at all. We would like to believe that we are insulated from the impacts of human caused changes to our planet’s climate. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The very heart of the midwestern way of life, agriculture, stands to be another victim of the unprecedented shifts in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Corn Belt, which Missouri is a part of, is responsible for 90 percent of our nation’s corn grain and 30 percent of the global corn crop. Unaddressed, climate change could reduce corn yields by 40 percent within the next 30 years. The north Missouri economy, which relies heavily on its grain production, could not stand such a hit to a crop that buttresses the state’s economy.

So, what do we do about it? We put a gradual price on carbon. This will allow industries, like agriculture, to incrementally adjust their operations without the risk of becoming financially insolvent. As large-scale agriculture adapts to more sustainable modes of production, it will do its part in saving the planet (and itself) from the worst-case-scenarios of climate change.

–– Trevor Callaway

St. Joseph