Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumAnother Impact From Bigger Hurricanes & Rising Seas - Loss Of Prime Farmland To Salt
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Take, for instance, 2018s Hurricane Florence. The slow-moving Category 4 giant ravaged southeast coasts, with wind gusts as high as 100 miles per hour, rainfall that exceeded 10 inches in most coastal regions (Swansboro reported 34 inches of total rainfall) and $24 billion in damagesmore than Category 5 Hurricane Matthew and Category 4 Hurricane Floyd combined. The initial $1.1-billion damage cost calculation was conservative, and it didnt account for damages from soil salinization. Even worse, climate scientists say that rainfall estimations were worsened by climate change, an indication that future storms could follow similar patterns.
The storm rocked North Carolinas agricultural industry to its core. Five of six top agricultural counties of the state were in the most storm-vulnerable areas. Most eastern farmers fields were obliterated; the storm came right before peak harvest season for tobacco, corn, and cotton. Crop insurance didnt cover all the damages incurred, especially not the long-term costs. Fresh water [non-saline] flooding from intense rainfall events can [have] short- and long-term consequences, says Gavazzi, but the land will usually recover. However, ocean-driven storm surge flooding is saltwater, and crop productivity can be negatively impacted. Repeated flooding can permanently reduce forest, range, and agricultural production of these coastal areas.
Soil salinization occurs when seawater from floods eventually evaporates but leaves behind its salt content, which accumulates over years in the soil. With enough flooding, the soil on farms could become so salinized that crops can no longer be grown on that land. More often known as saltwater intrusion, soil salinization can also impact local water quality; the salt eventually makes contact with freshwater aquifers, thus salinizing them. Many local communities source water from wells that draw from these aquifers. Aquifer salinization forces these communities to drill new wells deeper and further inland, which further depletes underground freshwater and creates a self-enforcing loop.
This process isnt immediately noticeable: One hurricane season isnt enough for farmers to see the effects. But several years later, farmland productivity starts to plummet. Crop yields never return to previous rates, and there is only so much farmland owners can do to rid the salt before another hurricane comes along.
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https://grist.org/agriculture/a-silent-killer-how-saltwater-intrusion-is-overtaking-coastal-farmland-in-the-us/
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)
farmers elsewhere are pumping out the aquifers beneath their fields to irrigate, partly because the rains arent falling like they used to
America's Aquifers Are Shrinking. Our Survival Is at Stake.
BY DARREN ORF PUBLISHED: SEP 1, 2023
- Ample amounts of groundwater throughout North America have made the U.S. the food superpower it is today, but that groundwater is disappearing.
- An extensive New York Times investigation looking at 80,000 groundwater wells around the country catalogs the multiple crises facing the U.S.'s groundwater supply in the era of climate change.
- Caused by mismanagement and the climate crisis, the depletion of groundwater could effect both farmer's crops and tap water availability.