Losses to Extreme Events: Wind
Another concern for producers is crop loss due to extreme wind events or thunderstorms. Severe wind storms can cause crop loss by breaking or leaning plants over or by causing the fruit of the plant to fall off. Wind can also influence plant growth and productivity by altering evapotranspiration, turbulence, or soil loss and deposition. In 2019, the NOAA Storm Prediction Center recorded over 16,000 wind reports in the United States, which was the most since 2011.
Center pivot flipped by strong winds. Photo courtesy of National Weather Service, 2017
REFERENCES NOAA / National Weather Service. (2018, February 28). Severe weather event summaries [Website]. National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/#reports
OSU Extension Service. (n.d.). Environmental factors affecting plant growth [Website]. Oregon State University. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/environmental-factors-affecting-plant-growth
Losses to Extreme Events: Flood
Flooding can cause severe crop and infrastructure loss and damage as well as prevent crops from being planted altogether, which was evident across a large portion of the United States in 2019. Flooded soils can reduce the oxygen available to plants, disrupting necessary plant functions, such as photosynthesis and
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