Most Americans have access to a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, dairy, and meat products. Each food item may have been produced on a nearby farm, in a neighboring state, from somewhere across the country, or from overseas locations. Foods are grown in precise locations due to their climate and growing conditions.
Weather is the short-term (day-to-day or minute-to-minute) state of the atmosphere. It is generally described using a combination of temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, and wind conditions. Climate is the average weather of a given region over a long term, generally 30 years. Climate plays a large role in the production of plant-based foods. Every plant has its own climate requirement for productive growth. For example, citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes require a tropical or subtropical climate. In the United States citrus fruits are grown primarily in Florida and Southern California. Tropical fruits such as pineapple, mangos, passion fruit, and papaya can only be grown in Hawaii or in other tropical climates. Berries and fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and melons can be grown in more temperate climates as long as the length of the growing season is sufficient for the plants to produce their fruit. Other crops prefer cooler climates such as wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, and many vegetables such as broccoli, onions, lettuce, carrots, and spinach.
Climate Change and global warming can often be confused or used interchangeably, but global warming refers only to the long-term warming of the planet since the early 20th century.3 Looking at the big picture, trends of warming on the earth's surface are not new. See How the World Warmed: Climate Change through History for more information. Climate change refers to a broad range of phenomena such as increased temperature trends, sea levels rising, and extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought, storm surges, flooding, etc.3
Climate change is attributed largely to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that is produced by the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricultural practices. Climate change can impact the health and productivity of crops, livestock, fish, and forests. Therefore, climate change has the potential to threaten our food security. Food security is defined by the FAO as a state when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.4
Agriculture is impacted by climate change in a number of ways. Changes in average temperatures, rainfall, climate extremes, and changes in pests and diseases are a few examples. Agriculture is also known to contribute to climate change due to the greenhouse gasses that are emitted in agricultural processes as well as conversion of non-agricultural land into agricultural land.5
Looking forward, questions can be investigated such as How can we reduce greenhouse gas emissions? or How can agriculture adapt to a changing climate? Answers to these questions lie in both adaptations and mitigation. Mitigations refer to the steps we take to slow down the rate of climate change by reducing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Adaptations are actions we can take to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Examples could include selecting varieties of crops better suited to warmer weather patterns, increasing storm drainage in cities to prepare for flooding, or planting trees along streams and rivers to provide more shade and cooler water temperatures for cold water trout streams.
