Jun 04, 2019
Farmers and residents across the Midwest are currently "living climate change," according to experts and scientists who are observing catastrophic flooding from one of the rainiest springs on record.
Since March, heavy rains in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and other states have led the Mississippi River and other waterways to overflow, with the Mississippi cresting at more than 21 feet in one Iowa city on Sunday--the second highest level since historic flooding in 1993 decimated farms, homes, and whole towns.
At least three people have been killed as a result of the floods so far, and tens of thousands have been displaced.
Drone footage from Sunday showed a levee on the Mississippi River breaking, forcing 250 people from their homes in the middle of the night in Winfield, Missouri.
Climate experts including meteorologist Eric Holthaus and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben tweeted that the "unprecedented" flooding was new evidence of a "hot new world."
\u201cToday's the first day of the 2019 hurricane season, but the biggest weather news this year -by far- is the historic flooding across the Midwest.\n\nAnother year, another example of unprecedented extreme weather in our hot new world.\n\nhttps://t.co/hpt0lt1AIg\u201d— Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus) 1559410434
\u201cIncredible flooding along Midwest rivers already --and now there's a potential tropical storm in the Gulf which will dump a lot more rain. Records falling everywhere #hotnewworld\nhttps://t.co/kro8UppntG\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1559574773
While a rainy season is not necessarily indicative of the effects of the climate crisis, the nonprofit climate action group Earthjustice wrote that the relentlessness of the current flooding and its level of destruction "is not normal."
\u201cHistoric flooding continues to wreak havoc on the Midwest. This is not normal. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019ve been getting rained on for two months just practically nonstop. And again today it\u2019s nonstop." https://t.co/0SzS5mUzGb\u201d— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) 1559602668
As Common Dreams reported last week, the especially rainy season has been linked to an unusually high number of tornadoes in the Midwest and all the way to the East Coast in recent weeks. About 270 tornadoes were recorded last month, including several that hit the region over 13 consecutive days.
As National Geographic reported Monday, the floods serve as some of the most tangible evidence that the changing climate is affecting farmers' livelihoods.
Increased water vapor in the atmosphere can result from a warmer climate, and "climate scientists say the devastating rains falling over the Midwest are exactly in line with what they've been predicting," Sarah Gibbons wrote.
"Overall, it's climate change," Donald Wuebbles, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told National Geographic. "We expect an increase in total precipitation in the Midwest, especially in winter and spring, with more coming as larger events."
"We are living climate change right now," added Evan DeLucia, a plant biologist at the university.
For farmers, extreme flooding has meant they are able to plant far less corn and soybeans, as heavy rainfall can be just as damaging to crops as drought and extreme heat. Only 58 percent of the former and 29 percent of the former were planted by the end of May, as growing season was nearly over. Farmers shared the flood's effects on their crops with the hashtag #NoPlant2019.
\u201cSome rough and tough conditions here in Western Illinois after last nights pounding! #noplant2019 #AgriTalk\u201d— Grant Curtis (@Grant Curtis) 1559146271
\u201cEerie to see so little corn planted as I travelled around central and northern Illinois this Memorial Day weekend #noplant2019\u201d— Chris Magnuson (@Chris Magnuson) 1559005569
As a result of the unusually rainy spring, National Geographic reported, farmers can expect to pay more for corn that they use to feed livestock while consumers will likely pay more for corn and soy products as well.
While many of the warnings about the effects of the climate crisis focus on coastal cities being washed away by rising sea levels, Megan Molteni wrote last month at Wired, "climate change will bring more moisture to the middle parts of the country too"--a shift for which the Midwest is poorly equipped.
"After decades of draining wetlands and clearing forests for agricultural use," wrote Molteni, "those changes to the timing, type, and amount of precipitation will fall on a system already profoundly altered in ways that make flooding much more likely."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Farmers and residents across the Midwest are currently "living climate change," according to experts and scientists who are observing catastrophic flooding from one of the rainiest springs on record.
Since March, heavy rains in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and other states have led the Mississippi River and other waterways to overflow, with the Mississippi cresting at more than 21 feet in one Iowa city on Sunday--the second highest level since historic flooding in 1993 decimated farms, homes, and whole towns.
At least three people have been killed as a result of the floods so far, and tens of thousands have been displaced.
Drone footage from Sunday showed a levee on the Mississippi River breaking, forcing 250 people from their homes in the middle of the night in Winfield, Missouri.
Climate experts including meteorologist Eric Holthaus and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben tweeted that the "unprecedented" flooding was new evidence of a "hot new world."
\u201cToday's the first day of the 2019 hurricane season, but the biggest weather news this year -by far- is the historic flooding across the Midwest.\n\nAnother year, another example of unprecedented extreme weather in our hot new world.\n\nhttps://t.co/hpt0lt1AIg\u201d— Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus) 1559410434
\u201cIncredible flooding along Midwest rivers already --and now there's a potential tropical storm in the Gulf which will dump a lot more rain. Records falling everywhere #hotnewworld\nhttps://t.co/kro8UppntG\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1559574773
While a rainy season is not necessarily indicative of the effects of the climate crisis, the nonprofit climate action group Earthjustice wrote that the relentlessness of the current flooding and its level of destruction "is not normal."
\u201cHistoric flooding continues to wreak havoc on the Midwest. This is not normal. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019ve been getting rained on for two months just practically nonstop. And again today it\u2019s nonstop." https://t.co/0SzS5mUzGb\u201d— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) 1559602668
As Common Dreams reported last week, the especially rainy season has been linked to an unusually high number of tornadoes in the Midwest and all the way to the East Coast in recent weeks. About 270 tornadoes were recorded last month, including several that hit the region over 13 consecutive days.
As National Geographic reported Monday, the floods serve as some of the most tangible evidence that the changing climate is affecting farmers' livelihoods.
Increased water vapor in the atmosphere can result from a warmer climate, and "climate scientists say the devastating rains falling over the Midwest are exactly in line with what they've been predicting," Sarah Gibbons wrote.
"Overall, it's climate change," Donald Wuebbles, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told National Geographic. "We expect an increase in total precipitation in the Midwest, especially in winter and spring, with more coming as larger events."
"We are living climate change right now," added Evan DeLucia, a plant biologist at the university.
For farmers, extreme flooding has meant they are able to plant far less corn and soybeans, as heavy rainfall can be just as damaging to crops as drought and extreme heat. Only 58 percent of the former and 29 percent of the former were planted by the end of May, as growing season was nearly over. Farmers shared the flood's effects on their crops with the hashtag #NoPlant2019.
\u201cSome rough and tough conditions here in Western Illinois after last nights pounding! #noplant2019 #AgriTalk\u201d— Grant Curtis (@Grant Curtis) 1559146271
\u201cEerie to see so little corn planted as I travelled around central and northern Illinois this Memorial Day weekend #noplant2019\u201d— Chris Magnuson (@Chris Magnuson) 1559005569
As a result of the unusually rainy spring, National Geographic reported, farmers can expect to pay more for corn that they use to feed livestock while consumers will likely pay more for corn and soy products as well.
While many of the warnings about the effects of the climate crisis focus on coastal cities being washed away by rising sea levels, Megan Molteni wrote last month at Wired, "climate change will bring more moisture to the middle parts of the country too"--a shift for which the Midwest is poorly equipped.
"After decades of draining wetlands and clearing forests for agricultural use," wrote Molteni, "those changes to the timing, type, and amount of precipitation will fall on a system already profoundly altered in ways that make flooding much more likely."
Farmers and residents across the Midwest are currently "living climate change," according to experts and scientists who are observing catastrophic flooding from one of the rainiest springs on record.
Since March, heavy rains in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and other states have led the Mississippi River and other waterways to overflow, with the Mississippi cresting at more than 21 feet in one Iowa city on Sunday--the second highest level since historic flooding in 1993 decimated farms, homes, and whole towns.
At least three people have been killed as a result of the floods so far, and tens of thousands have been displaced.
Drone footage from Sunday showed a levee on the Mississippi River breaking, forcing 250 people from their homes in the middle of the night in Winfield, Missouri.
Climate experts including meteorologist Eric Holthaus and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben tweeted that the "unprecedented" flooding was new evidence of a "hot new world."
\u201cToday's the first day of the 2019 hurricane season, but the biggest weather news this year -by far- is the historic flooding across the Midwest.\n\nAnother year, another example of unprecedented extreme weather in our hot new world.\n\nhttps://t.co/hpt0lt1AIg\u201d— Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus) 1559410434
\u201cIncredible flooding along Midwest rivers already --and now there's a potential tropical storm in the Gulf which will dump a lot more rain. Records falling everywhere #hotnewworld\nhttps://t.co/kro8UppntG\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1559574773
While a rainy season is not necessarily indicative of the effects of the climate crisis, the nonprofit climate action group Earthjustice wrote that the relentlessness of the current flooding and its level of destruction "is not normal."
\u201cHistoric flooding continues to wreak havoc on the Midwest. This is not normal. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019ve been getting rained on for two months just practically nonstop. And again today it\u2019s nonstop." https://t.co/0SzS5mUzGb\u201d— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) 1559602668
As Common Dreams reported last week, the especially rainy season has been linked to an unusually high number of tornadoes in the Midwest and all the way to the East Coast in recent weeks. About 270 tornadoes were recorded last month, including several that hit the region over 13 consecutive days.
As National Geographic reported Monday, the floods serve as some of the most tangible evidence that the changing climate is affecting farmers' livelihoods.
Increased water vapor in the atmosphere can result from a warmer climate, and "climate scientists say the devastating rains falling over the Midwest are exactly in line with what they've been predicting," Sarah Gibbons wrote.
"Overall, it's climate change," Donald Wuebbles, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told National Geographic. "We expect an increase in total precipitation in the Midwest, especially in winter and spring, with more coming as larger events."
"We are living climate change right now," added Evan DeLucia, a plant biologist at the university.
For farmers, extreme flooding has meant they are able to plant far less corn and soybeans, as heavy rainfall can be just as damaging to crops as drought and extreme heat. Only 58 percent of the former and 29 percent of the former were planted by the end of May, as growing season was nearly over. Farmers shared the flood's effects on their crops with the hashtag #NoPlant2019.
\u201cSome rough and tough conditions here in Western Illinois after last nights pounding! #noplant2019 #AgriTalk\u201d— Grant Curtis (@Grant Curtis) 1559146271
\u201cEerie to see so little corn planted as I travelled around central and northern Illinois this Memorial Day weekend #noplant2019\u201d— Chris Magnuson (@Chris Magnuson) 1559005569
As a result of the unusually rainy spring, National Geographic reported, farmers can expect to pay more for corn that they use to feed livestock while consumers will likely pay more for corn and soy products as well.
While many of the warnings about the effects of the climate crisis focus on coastal cities being washed away by rising sea levels, Megan Molteni wrote last month at Wired, "climate change will bring more moisture to the middle parts of the country too"--a shift for which the Midwest is poorly equipped.
"After decades of draining wetlands and clearing forests for agricultural use," wrote Molteni, "those changes to the timing, type, and amount of precipitation will fall on a system already profoundly altered in ways that make flooding much more likely."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.