Regional “Climate Hubs”: A Goldilocks Approach to Climate Change Adaptation

This winter, we felt the effects of severe weather across the United States, including record-breaking droughts in California and much of the West, polar vortex conditions, record snow falls, and ice storms in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Our nation’s farms and ranches are particularly sensitive to such fluctuations in precipitation and temperature, which have been made more acute by climate change.

On February 5th, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the creation of seven “climate hubs” at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in order to take on these challenges with a localized perspective.

The hubs will be located in Ames, IA, Durham, NH, Raleigh, NC, Fort Collins, CO, El Reno, OK, Corvallis, OR, and Las Cruces, NM. An additional three “sub-hubs,” with a narrower focus on specific issues, will be established in California, Michigan and Puerto Rico.

Prolonged drought caused the economy to shrink by $50 billion between 2011 and 2013. The majority of these losses were sustained by the agricultural sector. Producer risk has increased greatly over the last several decades; growing seasons are almost two weeks longer than in the 1950s, the fire season is 60 days longer than it was 30 years ago. Our forests, range and farm land are under increasing threat from pests, fire, drought and floods in the coming years due to shifting natural systems. Vilsack commented, “farmers and ranchers and forest landowners are seeing the beginning chapter of what will be a long-term challenge posed by a changing climate. This problem is not going away on its own. That’s why America must take steps now to adapt.”

The hubs will deliver science-based knowledge to producers, in an attempt to translate science into resource management practices. They have two missions: technical support and stakeholder outreach. They will provide technical information regarding regional climate impacts such as increased risks of fire, pests, flooding and drought. They will also foster connections between farmers, ranchers, foresters, Native American groups, federal and state agencies, universities and NGOs to assist producers and land managers in efforts to “mitigate risks and thrive despite change,” according to USDA. In his announcement, Vilsack commented on the need for regionally-based science, stating, “If we are to be effective in managing the risks from a shifting climate, we'll need to ensure that our managers in the field and our stakeholders have the information they need to succeed. That's why we're bringing all of that information together on a regionally-appropriate basis.”

The hubs are part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), announced in June 2013, which aims to protect the economy and natural resources from the impacts of climate change.