The AgClimate Network is a web-based hub for data, analysis and communication between regional scientists and stakeholders about climate change and agricultural and natural resources topics. A consortium of institutions including Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and Washington State University, and individuals contribute content to this site and share articles and analyses. Our frequent contributors and listed on our Contributors page. To contact specific authors please send your comments via our Ask a Question page, or email us at info@agclimate.net.
AgClimate Network includes:
WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR) addresses emerging issues that affect the sustainability of agriculture, food and natural resource systems. Current programs addressing climate change include the Climate Friendly Farming Program, focused on better understanding carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems, and improving the resiliency of agriculture to a changing climate. They also include the Waste to Fuels Program, focused on generating renewable energy from organic wastes, including biogas from dairy manure. The Center partners on a variety of climate and natural resource-related projects, including OFoot, WISDM, BioEarth, the AD Systems project, REACCH and others. The Center has a publications library that includes resources on climate change and agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. They also publish a blog on sustainability issues; relevant climate change posts are republished here.
Regional Approaches to Climate Change (REACCH) is a coordinated agricultural project, funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to enhance the long-term sustainability of cereal production systems in the Pacific Northwest. Through research, extension, and education, REACCH integrates diverse elements of climate modelling, cropping system modelling, social and economic science, agriculture and agronomy, and crop protection to address climate adaptation and mitigation concerns relating to agriculture. Subscribe to the REACCH mailing list here. REACCH research updates are republished here.
The Climate Impacts Research Consortium (CIRC) is a federally funded research group developing climate projections, impact assessments, and adaptation support for communities in the Pacific Northwest. Current efforts include evaluation of global climate models for the Pacific Northwest, and developing integrated scenarios of future climate, hydrology, and vegetation. More locally, CIRC has partnered with the region’s cooperative extension services to support community adaptation for irrigated agriculture in Central Idaho and coastal hazards on the Oregon Coast. CIRC also publishes the Climate CIRCulator, a monthly newsletter summarizing the latest regional climate science and the PNW Seasonal Impacts and Outlook, a quarterly bulletin recapping seasonal trends and outlooks. Relevant articles from the Climate CIRCulator are republished here.
The Animal Agriculture and Climate Change project is a national extension project focused to build capacity amongst Extension with the goal of informing and influencing livestock and poultry producers to foster animal production practices that are environmentally sound, climatically compatible, and economically viable. The USDA awarded Washington State University and six partnering Land-Grant Universities $4.1 million for this 5-year project to address regional issues associated with climate change and animal agriculture. WSU represents the western region of this national effort. The funding comes from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) via its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. This project is facilitated through the online, web-based Livestock & Poultry Environmental Learning Center (LPELC). This national, web-based environment facilitates networking and extends the availability and utility of extension resources on the environmental concerns of animal agriculture. For more information about the Animal Agriculture and Climate Change project and to register for the new Animal Agriculture and Climate Change free online course, please visit www.animalagclimatechange.org. Regional monthly newsletters are produced and relevant articles are republished here.
BioEarth is a NSF and USDA awarded a 3.1 million dollar grant to a WSU-based research team to create a regional earth system modeling framework for the Pacific Northwest by integrating a network of process-based models. The framework includes atmospheric models (for meteorology and atmospheric chemistry), land surface models (for hydrology, cropping systems, and biogeochemical cycling), aquatic models (for reservoir operations and nutrient export in rivers), and economic models.A central goal of the project is to enhance the relevance of regional earth system models to resource managers and other decision-makers.
WISDM is a WSU-based USDA-funded project builds on the BioEarth modeling framework to improve understanding of interactions between water resources, water quality, climate change, and human behavior in agricultural and urban environments. Basin-scale social-environmental interactions are being modeled in the Spokane and Yakima River basins in a collaborative system dynamics modeling process that involves close interaction with water users and managers.
AgWeatherNet (AWN) provides access to current and historical weather data from Washington State University’s automated weather station network along with a range of models and decision aids. The weather data, advisories, weather data products and decision support systems provided by AgWeatherNet and WSU can help improve production and product quality, optimize resource use and reduce environmental impact. Frequent summaries are republished here.
Climate of the Inland Northwest US – Weather, climate, and why they matter in the inland northwest. This BLOG is maintained by Dr. John Abatzoglou, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Idaho. Relevant posts are republished here.