It's Happening

摘要

Agriculture can curb greenhouse gasses that spur climate change. Several years ago at a meeting, a farmer presented a carbon credit program aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses. "How many of you think global warming is a hoax?" he asked. A sea of handsquickly rose. Turning to his wife, he said, "Rachel, start the car." Laughter erupted and the good-natured group listened attentively. Still, rolling eyes and furrowed brows often reign when climate change is presented to many agricultural audiences. What's happened in the corner of northeast South Dakota where I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s makes me wonder what's going on. Back then, drought was the major detriment to crop production. When it rained, though, the dark green cornfields and waving wheat fields that surrounded Claremont, South Dakota, made it the envy of that state's agricultural industry.