by Rex Trulove

Created on: August 07, 2010

One thing that is nearly certain with this world is that the climate will change, just as it has for the past 4.5 billion years. Sometimes the climate changes happen fast, sometimes they are slow, and most of the time, they change back and forth after a couple decades or so. To continue to produce food, especially with increasing demand, it is necessary for agriculture to adapt to the changes.

This can be tricky, if the changes occur rapidly. For instance, an area may have had many years of abnormally high precipitation, and then suddenly can have a drought year or two. Plants and animals that do well in a moist environment may have difficulty in a dry one. Yet, if the change is rapid, there may not be time to gradually switch to more tolerant species.

Thankfully, many plants and animals are tolerant of a wide range of climate conditions. This is usually not true of specialty crops, however. Many will die rapidly if the change is too fast, even if man takes extra steps to prevent it.

A recent example was a cold wave that struck Florida and the gulf coast areas of the US, causing severe damage to citrus trees there. Many trees were killed because of the cold temperatures, and in some places, snow. People did the best they could, using a combination of sprinklers and 'hot pots' in an effort to keep the trees alive. Often, this failed.

The problem was that there was little warning that the climate would turn cooler than normal, and no indication regarding how long it would last. In this case, it didn't last long, so damage could have been far worse. The citrus crop in California was also largely untouched. However, the change could have just as easily been the other way around, and could have decimated the California crop.

Often, climate change happens more gradually, over a period of years. It is easier to adapt agriculture in this case. For instance, since about 2000, Oregon has had an increase of precipitation almost each year. This has led to increased winter snowfall at higher elevations. However, except for the extreme amounts of snow, this isn’t unusual in Oregon, in the winter. (Information by National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration, and Oregon Weather Bureau.)

Yet, in 2010, the entire state of Oregon recorded the wettest April on record. Oregon is a largely agricultural state, growing everything from potatoes to pumpkins, grapes, grains, fruit, hops, and trees for lumber. Most of the pines, firs, and hemlocks can deal with increased

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