Rose, M. P. (2023, January 23). How pesticides intensify global warming. Grist. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://grist.org/agriculture/a-new-report-says-pesticides-intensify-climate-change/ 

California uses nearly 20% of all pesticides used in agriculture in the United States. However, “less than .01 percent of pesticides” actually end up killing the pests they were meant to, creating a huge amount of pesticides being wasted and ending up in water supplies, soil, and the air. In addition, the manufacturing of pesticides greatly impacts the environment, especially in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions from making these pesticides end up accelerating global warming and climate change

This article shows the large impact just one part of California’s agriculture industry has on the environment. The sheer amount of greenhouse emissions from producing pesticides for California is enormous and not only does this affect the atmosphere, but overusing pesticides also leads to a large amount of water contamination and soil contamination causing a whole group of other environmental issues. The thing that shocked me the most is how little pesticide is actually effective. I believe that farms should definitely use less pesticides even if it means losing a few crops, the damage done by pesticide overuse is utterly insane. This is also one of the environmental impacts that I think is the most overlooked. I don’t think I have seen any laws that affect pesticide use, other than general safety measures to make sure the food is safe to eat.

Nilsen, E. (2023, January 21). Faucets in McCarthy’s district are running dry after years of drought. Constituents want him to do more. CNN. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/21/politics/mccarthy-district-drought-water-crisis-climate/index.html 

California’s drought is causing severe water shortages for rural communities, many are left without running water and are forced to rely on water deliveries, for which many are insufficient. Many communities have requested that Sen. Kevin McCarthy did something about the extreme water shortage in his district, however, he has failed to take any sort of meaningful action. A lot of the communities are located next to large farms, which have used up all the underground water in the area. Furthermore, these farms have the finance to drill further into the ground to access deeper aquifers, leaving the residents without water.

This article shows the extreme side of agriculture’s effect on the environment. The large farms in California have used up so much water that residential wells can’t even reach available aquifers. Being in a drought, these farms are so inefficient that they are endangering the lives of people in nearby communities. Not only is there a shortage of water, but even when there is water, it is contaminated by runoff from the nearby farms and is essentially unusable, one citizen interviewed by CNN even mentioned that the water was “treated with so much chlorine that it turned his family’s black clothing gray in the wash.” This article made me really scared to think about the future of California. I didn’t really think this type of thing happened in California and I definitely think there has to be action taken right now. However, it is hard to get things done especially because of how important agriculture is to California and the whole country. 

Manjoo, F. (2023, January 20). What Will ‘Weather Whiplash’ Mean for California? The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/opinion/california-drought-flooding-climate-change.html 

Climate scientists are predicting that California’s climate will be extremely volatile due to the effects of climate change. The trend in the last decade has shown that California will be extremely dry and then experience immense downpour. Additionally, the rainfall can’t be contained as well as before because much of the downpour has been in the form of water, rather than snow. This is a problem because snow acts like a solid reservoir of water, until it slowly melts in spring, whereas water mostly runs off into the ocean and becomes unusable.

This is yet another article on the California storms, however in this one, the main focus is more on the preparations and strategies that citizens will have to implement to conserve water. Furthermore, it discusses why California lacks the right infrastructure to deal with the extreme climate. California’s infrastructure is mainly suited to the drought and dry years because many don’t think about flooding when they’re in a drought. This leads to a ton of problems when faced with heavy storms, which leads us to agriculture. Most of California’s farms use way more water than is necessary, this combined with insufficient water supplies due to a drought leads to ideas on efficient water use. In the article, it is said that “Farming currently accounts for 80 percent of California’s water use.” and most of this is because the farmers are not planting water efficiently. This fact thus leads me to wonder what California’s water supply would be like if the agricultural industry here grew water-efficient plants.

Flavelle, C., & Zhong, R. (2023, January 5). Weeks of Storms Test California’s Approach to Taming Nature. The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/climate/california-floods-drought-preparedness.html 

Due to the increase of rainfall in the recent storms, California officials are reconsidering their strategy of containing rain water. Officials want to add a second levee alongside rivers not only due to the severe consequences of flooding, but also to allow the water to seep into underground aquifers. Runoff from farmland located on the river banks that contaminates water reserves, and aquifers are not being replenished because the water is flowing elsewhere. Despite these consequences, many property owners are refusing to sell their properties for the government to build levees. 

This article covers the recent storms in California, and the effects of flooding as well as inefficient water management. In the recent storms, huge amounts of runoff from agricultural areas nearby large waterways were washed away into other parts of the state. Additionally, much of the fresh water was lost due to insufficient facilities to contain the water. Many of the agricultural areas in California are now relying heavily on underground water, specifically aquifers, however, these aquifers are being depleted quickly and the only way to replenish them is through water on the surface seeping down. Therefore, many officials are now looking to add a second levee to prevent flooding, as well as allow overflow from the river and first levee to seep into the ground. The problem is, many property owners do not want to give up their land located around the rivers because the land is expensive, and productive. This article also mentions the possibility of more storms to come, due to climate change, and I wonder if California could be pulled out of the drought if efficient water management is applied. If so, would this make the agriculture industry even better due to the large increase in water and healthy soil?

Roth, S. (2023, January 17). Want to solve climate change? This California farm kingdom holds a key. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-01-17/want-to-solve-climate-change-this-california-farm-kingdom-holds-the-key 

As global warming continues to drive temperatures up, many agricultural counties in California are running out of water, at the same time solar companies have started to buy farm land to develop large solar farms. In Imperial County, residents and farmers are divided by the option to sell land to these companies. While some are eager to bring new jobs into the county, sell off some less useful land, and help the environment, others are hesitant to give up their land, which has been passed down for generations. Some say it’s because their land is worth more than clean energy.

This article displays a great example of one of the many challenges that developing clean energy has. Every source of energy has a downside, and for solar, it is a necessity for land. But this land can’t come from anywhere, many activists oppose developing new areas for solar farming because it would destroy natural habitats which is why many solar companies are buying land off agricultural areas, however, many of these farmers are reluctant to give up their farms for a plethora of reasons. Despite the farms causing immense environmental damage, nearly draining the section of the Colorado River that reaches the bottom of California, as well as creating a huge sea of contaminated water due to runoff from all of these farms, many farmers continue to oppose helping the environment because they see their neighbors doing the same thing. This article shines a light on a prime example of a “tragedy of the commons” in terms of agriculture. In my opinion, the farmers should be selling some of their land to help solar development. Not only would it help the local economy, it would also bring us a lot closer to reaching our climate goal. I think this would be one of the best ways California could start becoming carbon neutral. However, at the end of the article, it mentioned that a company nearby was drilling into the ground to find steam pockets underground that are large enough to turn turbines. I wonder how much impact these companies will have on our environment and energy production.

Elbein, S. (2022, August 18). Why Great Plains agriculture is particularly vulnerable to drought. The Hill. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-great-plains-agriculture-is-particularly-vulnerable-to-drought/ar-AA10N9DE. 

The underground water reserves under the great plains are running out of water. The water is getting exploited by the agriculture communities above and at this rate the reserves will dry out due to the unsustainable amount of water that is being pumped out. Many communities near the Texas Panhandle area have already seen a lack of water due to the reserves being depleted. Additionally, the reserves will be further affected by climate change due to a lack of rainfall to replenish the reserves.

This is yet another article on how the lack of water is affecting agriculture globally. In this case, the area is drying out due to the communities using the underground water reserves as if they wouldn’t run out of water, which inevitably leads to a decline of water in the reserve until the area is dried out. This, combined with the great impacts of climate change is causing droughts everywhere. Although sad to see, I feel as though the people of the area should have known better than to overuse a resource such as water. This seems like a great example of the tragedy of the commons.

Holmes, B. (2022, August 21). Veganism Might Not Be the Most Sustainable Diet. The Atlantic. Retrieved August 21, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/meat-veganism-climate-change-agriculture-environment/671200/. 

New studies have found that a completely vegan world may not be the best solution for the climate crisis. Although livestock produce a lot of greenhouse gasses, if done the right way, a diet including meat could be more sustainable than a vegan diet. One example of a sustainable way to raise livestock would be to feed them using waste such as discarded produce. This would allow us to turn waste into edible food. Another benefit of keeping meat in the diet is that it would provide people with nutrients that many couldn’t get otherwise.

This article shows a solution towards climate change that involves the food industry. It shows that if done the right way, we could keep our diets the same and reduce the amount of impact we have on the environment. It is interesting to see the ideas that are very feasible to implement have such a big impact on our carbon footprint. Although it would be hard to transition, these methods of producing meat and dairy products could make a large impact on reducing carbon emissions, giving hope to people who don’t want to give up meat in their diet. It is also awesome to see that some asian countries have already started implementing a process similar to the ones mentioned in the article, however, many countries still have yet to start at all due to the large economic impacts the transition would have.

Holtz, M. (2022, July 22). Harvesting Wheat in Drought-Parched Kansas. The New Yorker. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/harvesting-wheat-in-drought-parched-kansas. 

Kansas is currently in a drought and many farmers are seeing less and less yield in their crops. Due to climate change, the temperatures in Kansas are rising and scientists found that crop yield could decrease drastically due to higher temperatures. These high temperatures have also dried up many wells, making the scarce water sources even rarer. Kansas also exports half the wheat produced in the state, making it a big part of the wheat industry. Many fear that the decline of wheat production paired with current events such as the Russia vs. Ukraine war could lead to worldwide famine.

This article also shows the vast effects of climate change on the agriculture industry. It also shines light on the risk of famine due to the effects of climate change. Not only is the agricultural community affected, many others are also affected by this climate change due to the lack of water. It is truly sad to see these families that have been farming for so long see their crops yield less and less. Many of the people featured in this article are in dire situations due to the slim profit margins created by the lack of crop yield. I think a policy has to be put in place to combat climate change worldwide and communities should work together to find a temporary solution for the near future while we try to reverse the effects of climate change.

Rannard, G. (2022, August 18). Uk drought: Why we need to get used to wonky vegetables. BBC News. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62575247.

Farmers in England are now selling their crops for less due to deformities caused by drought in the country. Many have had the same yield with different deformities including smaller crops, deformities in shape, and mutations such as tough skin. The lack of water also risks crop death and many farmers have already seen signs of dying crops. The soil is also dry and cracked, making it hard to plant anything for farmers who changed what they were planting to adapt to the drought.

Drought is present all over the world due to climate change. This article alone shows the impact of climate change on people, not to mention the long term impact it could have on a country’s food source. I think that a lot of people who live in 1st world countries are not appreciative of the food that they have. The fact that people pay less for food just because they look different than they are used to is crazy. Not only does it harm the environment, the

Soloman, S. (2022, August 11). How New Zealand’s Climate Fight Is Threatening Its Iconic Farmland. The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/business/new-zealand-carbon-farming.html.

Many investors are now buying farmland in New Zealand due to its pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050. Carbon farming, where landowners plant trees in exchange for carbon credits(currently worth 80 New Zealand dollars), has become a large part of the pledge. Although good for the environment, many are concerned with the economical change due to these large carbon farms. The main concerns are that these carbon farms will provide nowhere near the amount of jobs the farmland had previously provided when used for livestock and agriculture.

This article showed how difficult it is for a country to fight climate change as well as how the agriculture industry is affected. Although it is the backbone of most countries, agriculture is not a common subject in most people’s daily lives. The fight against climate change largely affects the industry due to many of the current methods of reducing carbon emissions requiring large areas of land to be set aside. Another factor of climate change includes livestock farming and chemicals that are used in the agriculture industry. However, by reducing farmlands, countries risk a lack of food and jobs. This raises the question of whether reducing farmlands in favor of reducing carbon emissions is worth it. I also wonder how much each project would cost and if there are better alternatives. Personally, I support the reduction of farmland to reduce our carbon footprint, and it may even force people to waste less food. However, I think there should be a limit as to how much farmland can be converted into carbon farms or other carbon reduction methods as we still need a stable food source.