Conservation Implications of Climate Change: Soil Erosion and Runoff from Cropland.

摘要

A changing climate will affect soil and water resources on agricultural land in many ways, but will the effect of climate change on soil and water resources on agricultural land be large enough to warrant changes in U.S. conservation policy or practice. To answer this question, the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) reviewed the literature and engaged members of an expert panel in a discussion of quantitative estimates of the effects of climate change on soil and water resources in agricultural landscapes. We chose to focus on one climatic variable, precipitation; two primary conservation effects, soil erosion and runoff; and one type of agricultural land, cropland. In the end, our answer to this question was an emphatic yes. Conservationists should be seriously concerned about the implications of climate changeas expressed by changes in precipitation patternsfor the conservation of soil and water resources in the United States.