The capacity of soil to hold water will be critical to determine how well farms in some regions of the United States manage the problem of prolonged heat stress due to climate change, a new study suggests. The journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems published the finding, based on analyses of 30 years of data on four major U.S. crops — corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat.
“At the same time that farmers are facing more extreme weather events caused by climate change they are dealing with the growing problem of soil degradation,” says Debjani Sihi, first author of the study and assistant professor in Emory University’s Department of Environmental Sciences.
Sihi is a biogeochemist who studies environmental and sustainability issues at the nexus of soil, climate, health and policy.
Read more at: Emory University
"Keeping soil healthy is a key component needed to adapt to the climate crisis," says Debjani Sihi, assistant professor in Emory's Department of Environmental Sciences. (Photo Credit: Emory's Department of Environmental Sciences)