Addressing air quality, agriculture, and climate change across the Southwest and Southern Plains: A roadmap for research, extension, and policy

Authors: DINAN, MAUDE - New Mexico State University; Elias, Emile; WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University; ZWICKE, GREG - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); DY, TIMOTHY - Non ARS Employee; ANEY, SKYE - New Mexico State University; BRADY, MICHAEL - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); BROWN, JOEL - New Mexico State University; DOBOS, ROBERT - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); DUBOIS, DAVE - Non ARS Employee; EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University; HEIMEL, SIERRA - New Mexico State University; LUKE, NICHOLAS - Non ARS Employee; ROTTLER, CAITLIN - Non ARS Employee; STEELE, CAITRIANA - New Mexico State University

Submitted to: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2021
Publication Date: 7/20/2021
Citation: Dinan, M., Elias, E.H., Webb, N., Zwicke, G., Dy, T.S., Aney, S., Brady, M., Brown, J.R., Dobos, R.R., DuBois, D., Edwards, B., Heimel, S., Luke, N., Rottler, C.M., Steele, C. 2021. Addressing air quality, agriculture, and climate change across the Southwest and Southern Plains: A roadmap for research, extension, and policy. Bulletin of the American Meterological Society. 102(7):1394-1401. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0088.1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0088.1

Interpretive Summary: Nearly sixty professionals from agricultural, environmental, and health sectors met to identify knowledge gaps and progress barriers within the agriculture-air quality-climate change nexus for the Southwest and Southern Plains regions. Discussion resulted in a roadmap of needs to navigate for policy, research, and land management.

Technical Abstract: In February 2021, the USDA Southwest Climate Hub hosted the virtual event called the Southwest and Southern Plains Air Quality and Production Agriculture Science and Applications Workshop. The workshop follows the culmination of a nationwide effort assessing the current state of knowledge of air quality impacts on agricultural production, and vice versa. This benchmark effort necessitates further discussion, addressing remaining knowledge gaps and progress barriers with the expectation of a changing climate. The goal of the workshop was to identify these needs for the Southwest and southern Plains region and develop a roadmap of next steps intended for those in policy, research, and land management. Bringing focus to the Southwest and southern Plains summons local characteristics and capacities into perspective for impactful strategy development. Midcentury projections of intensifying droughts, seasonality shifts, and extreme weather events threaten to challenge the Southwest and southern Plains region. These climatic variations create new, and exacerbate current, air quality issues with implications for public well-being, agricultural production, and environmental health. Given the constancy of climate change projected for this region, greater attention must be given to the air quality–agriculture relationship with climate change inherent to these explorations. The workshop convened professionals from health, agricultural, and environmental sectors, joining from 11 states and three countries (Canada, India, and the United States). Short presentations detailed the national assessment results, current mitigation options and resources available for the agricultural sector, current USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) air quality priorities, evolving indicators and models for emissions, and current measurement networks. Engagement activities throughout the workshop and a discussion session welcomed a flow of learning across all involved in the workshop, outlining a regional cross section of needs and priorities to be explored further.