Increased pests, water stress, diseases, and weather extremes will pose adaptation challenges for crop and livestock production. (cato.org)
But analyses focused on snow supply do not show where changes to snowmelt runoff are likely to present the most pressing adaptation challenges, given sub-annual patterns of human water consumption and water availability from rainfall. (pubs.giss.nasa.gov)
With a drier future and higher regional temperatures amplifying possible late - century droughts, the situation presents a major adaptation challenge for managing the region's water needs, explains Ault, who along with lead author Benjamin Cook and Jason Smerdon, both of NASA, published their new study, «Unprecedented 21st Century Drought Risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains Drought Risk in Western North America.» (news.cornell.edu)