A changing climate’s impact on water and water resources
Michigan State University Assistant Professor Pouyan Nejadhashemi will speak on future increased precipitation due to climate variability and change and its impact on farmland and agricultural best management practices.
Climate change information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agree that increased levels of greenhouse gases will impact our environment in many ways. One area of concern is the influence a changing climate will have on precipitation events. For the U.S., climate change models predict northern areas will become wetter while the western and southwest regions of the U.S. will become drier. Models also predict an increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation events, more rain over shorter periods of time. Michigan is within the region of the U.S. where increased precipitation is predicted during the winter and spring seasons but summers are expected to be drier. These anticipated changes in weather patterns have the potential to have a profound impact on agriculture production and soil and water conservation practices.
During the upcoming Michigan State University Extension Communities and Livestock conference, Pouyan Negadhashemi will discuss the impact of changing precipitation patterns on agricultural best management practices (BMP). Nejadhashemi is an Assistant Professor in Biosystems and Agriculture Engineering and Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University. Negadhashemi’s expertise is in decision support systems using watershed and water quality models. His research interests are focused on the description, analysis and prevention of non-point source pollution at the field, watershed and regional scales. He will be discussing his approach to assessing the impacts of climate change on agricultural BMP implementation strategies.
“Communities and Livestock” will be held on April 23, 2013 at the MSU Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, 4125 Beaumont Road, E. Lansing, MI. The conference will convene at 9 a.m. and preregistration is required. Online registration is available or a mail-in registration form can be printed from the same site. Registration fee is $85.00 per person and will include all conference materials, refreshments and lunch.