TheVoiceOfJoyce Climate crises, extreme weather events are creating low yields in 5 crops. With the new weather conditions in many states, the land can no longer support the crops planted there for generations. Are there solutions? Yes, our weather extremes can be directly correlated with carbon and methane emissions. Are we reducing our dependence on Fossil Fuels? In the short run, to avoid economic hardship and food insecurity, we can relocate the 5 crops impacted by our over use and dependence on Fossil Fuels. Oranges came off the trees in Florida and orange trees were uprooted, causing a 32% decrease in yield. California orange plantings may need a different environment. Rice grown in California was down 6% and it’s a global mainstay.. Wheat grown in Kansas will see yields decrease, another global staple. Tomatoes for processing into paste and sauce is no longer flourishing in California. New Mexico was a favorable climate for green chiles and that crop was drastically reduced. Do we an economic crisis, a food insecurity crisis and a water crisis? Yes. Is it temporary? It an be , if we recognize dependence on Fossil Fuels is not sustainable and start an emergency program to, create and integrate, alternative energy.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/01/climate-crisis-us-food-system-five-crops

The hurricane “came right up through the heart of the citrus belt”, said Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands Citrus Growers Association. Royce reports that in some counties growers have lost as much as 80% of their fruit. Florida orange growers were already facing a challenging year as greening disease, an invasive bacterium that thrives in warm climates and can kill trees and cause fruit to drop early, hit their plants.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted that the state will produce 28m boxes of oranges this season, down 32% from the previous season. This would be the smallest harvest since 1943. And the impact of Hurricane Ian may not yet be over, Royce said. In some areas, the storm didn’t just cause fruit to fall, but entirely uprooted or flooded trees.


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