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The Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Agriculture in the United States

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Challenges and Opportunities in Agrometeorology

Abstract

The United States has sustained over 90 weather-related disasters in the past 30 years in which overall damages exceeded $1 billion. The total normalized losses for the 90-plus events exceeded $700 billion. Droughts, floods, hurricanes, severe storms, heat waves, freezes, and wildfires pose serious challenges for farmers and the agribusiness community. Socio-economic costs of some of these natural disasters are far-reaching and long-lasting. The enduring changes in climate, water supply, and soil moisture necessitate mitigation measures and adaptation strategies to cope with these changes in order to develop effective long-term risk management plans. The preparedness strategies should include alternatives to current agricultural management schemes in certain regions.

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Correspondence to Raymond P. Motha .

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Motha, R.P. (2011). The Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Agriculture in the United States. In: Attri, S., Rathore, L., Sivakumar, M., Dash, S. (eds) Challenges and Opportunities in Agrometeorology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19360-6_30

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