wet weather

Rice production is the third largest cereal crop in the United States after corn and wheat. Four regions in the country produce almost the entire U.S. rice crop: the Arkansas Grand Prairie, the Mississippi Delta, the Gulf Coast, and the Sacramento Valley in California. Arkansas is the largest producer of rice in the country by far, but California ranks second.

A combination of drought and water shortages in the Sacramento Valley has taken a major toll on the California rice crop. This year, rice growers have only planted half as much grain as usual. The changes in rice plantings in California are so substantial that they are easily visible from space.

In Colusa and Glenn counties, rice acreage this year dropped by 84 and 75 percent respectively, compared to 2021. Farther to the east, in Butte Country, rice acreage was down by 17%. The change was smaller there because farmers in that county had more groundwater to tap into.

According to the USDA, the California rice crop will be reduced by 38% this year, making it the smallest rice crop in the state since 1977. California mostly grows short- and medium-grained rice, which is used in dishes like sushi, paella, and risotto. Arkansas and other states produce most of the long-grain rice such as basmati and jasmine rice.

In late September, there was a burst of rain, which offered some short-term relief for farmers. However, it will take much more wet weather to ease the ongoing drought conditions. As of the end of September, over 40% of California remained in extreme drought and 17% was in exceptional drought.

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A Rough Year for Rice in California

Photo, posted March 21, 2020, courtesy of Ajay Suresh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Insects can be found in every environment on Earth and are critical components of many ecosystems. They perform countless important functions, including aerating and fertilizing soil as well as pollinating flowers. In fact, according to the USDA, 75% of the world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators, the majority of which are insects, to reproduce.

According to a study published in the journal Nature earlier this year, the combination of climate change and intensive agriculture is having a profound impact on both the abundance and diversity of insects. In regions where substantial warming had occurred and where land had been converted for intensive farming, insects were nearly 50% less abundant and more than 25% fewer species were observed. Tropical regions were among those most at risk for heavy losses.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Global Change Biology, tropical insects will be even more susceptible to climate change than previously thought. In a five-year study conducted in Peru, researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History found that insect populations declined 50% following short periods of drought and following short periods of heavy rainfall. Insect populations decreased after three months of dry weather, but also decreased after three months of exceptionally wet weather.

Researchers have known that tropical insects don’t tend to do well when their habitats dry out. But the researchers were surprised to discover that these insects were equally averse to increased precipitation. Alarmingly, precipitation is expected to become more frequent and more intense as a consequence of the changing climate.

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Tropical insects are extremely sensitive to changing climates

Photo, posted June 11, 2016, courtesy of Z. Leng via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Bad Year For California Rice | Earth Wise

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Insects In A Changing Climate | Earth Wise

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