Changes in climate patterns are dramatically influencing some agricultural areas. Arid, semi‐arid and coastal agricultural areas are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts on soil salinity. Inventorying and monitoring climate change impacts on salinity are crucial to evaluate the extent of the problem, to recognize trends and to formulate irrigation and crop management strategies that will maintain the agricultural productivity of these areas. Over the past three decades, Corwin and colleagues at the U.S. Salinity Laboratory (USSL) have developed proximal sensor and remote imagery methodologies for assessing soil salinity at multiple scales. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact climate change has had on selected agricultural areas experiencing weather pattern changes, with a focus on the use of proximal and satellite sensors to assess salinity development. Evidence presented in case studies for Californiaʼs San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and Minnesotaʼs Red River Valley (RRV) demonstrates the utility of these sensor approaches in assessing soil salinity changes due to changes in weather patterns. Agricultural areas are discussed where changes in weather patterns have increased root‐zone soil salinity, particularly in areas with shallow water tables (SJV and RRV), coastal areas with seawater intrusion (e.g., Bangladesh and the Gaza Strip) and water‐scarce areas potentially relying on degraded groundwater as an irrigation source (SJV and Murray‐Darling River Basin). Trends in salinization due to climate change indicate that the infrastructure and protocols to monitor soil salinity from field to regional to national to global scales are needed. HIGHLIGHTS: Climate change will have a negative impact on agriculture, particularly in arid regions. Proximal/remote sensors are useful to assess climate change impact on soil salinity across scales. Salt‐water intrusion, shallow water tables and degraded water reuse will increase soil salinity. Infrastructure and protocols to monitor soil salinity across multiple scales are needed.

Climate change impacts on soil salinity in agricultural areas

A food system framework breaks down entrenched sectoral categories and existing adaptation and mitigation silos, presenting novel ways of assessing and enabling integrated climate change solutions from production to consumption.

Climate change responses benefit from a global food system approach

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2020AV000284

Carbon-Neutral Pathways for the United States

https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/agj2.20234

Introducing the North American project to evaluate soil health measurements

Wildfire management agencies in Canada are at a tipping point. Presuppression and suppression costs are increasing but program budgets are not. Climate change impacts and increasing interface values-at-risk are challenging suppression effectiveness and resulting in more wildfire disasters. We conducted semi-structured interviews with these agencies to understand the strategies, policies, and preparedness procedures they currently use to manage wildfires. We summarize the results of this national agency assessment, and based on what we heard and our review of agency internal documents, discuss agency challenges and opportunities to be better prepared for a future with more wildfire. A double wildfire paradox exists requiring communities and critical values in wildfire-dependent ecosystems to be FireSmart, and wildfire management agencies to allow more wildfire on the landscape by implementing a risk-based appropriate response approach. We conclude with a proposed future path for wildfire management in Canada. To co-exist with wildfire, agencies in Canada must also strengthen and adjust their wildfire management capacity and capability. This necessitates stronger horizontal collaboration, enhanced resource sharing, investments to develop innovative decision support tools, and an increased focus on prevention and mitigation.

Wildfire management in Canada: Review, challenges and opportunities

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) is the most comprehensive and up-to-date scientific assessment of the multiple interactions between climate change and land, assessing climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. It assesses the options for governance and decision-making across multiple scales. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Climate Change and Land

The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the physical science basis of climate change. It considers in situ and remote observations; paleoclimate information; understanding of climate drivers and physical, chemical, and biological processes and feedbacks; global and regional climate modelling; advances in methods of analyses; and insights from climate services. It assesses the current state of the climate; human influence on climate in all regions; future climate change including sea level rise; global warming effects including extremes; climate information for risk assessment and regional adaptation; limiting climate change by reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions and reducing other greenhouse gas emissions; and benefits for air quality. The report serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with the latest policy-relevant information on climate change. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Papers

Climate Change and Land

Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis