{"id":336926,"date":"2024-07-18T16:37:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T14:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336926"},"modified":"2024-07-18T16:37:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T14:37:56","slug":"no-opb-climate-change-is-not-taking-a-toll-on-oregon-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336926","title":{"rendered":"No, OPB, Climate Change is Not Taking a Toll on Oregon Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Linnea Lueken<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news site OPB [Oregon Public Broadcasting] posted an article titled \u201cClimate change increasingly taking a toll on Oregon farmers, ranchers<\/a>,\u201d which claims that climate change is having such a serious impact on Oregon agriculture that farmers need special climate grief counseling to cope. This is false. OPB claims that droughts, wildfires, and heat waves are all getting worse with climate change, however data show that this is not true for Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPB claims that farmers and ranchers in the state are \u201cincreasingly dealing with severe droughts, wildfires, sweltering heat waves and pests that can all-together decimate entire fields.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in the article OPB says \u201cmore precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow <\/a>in many areas of the Pacific Northwest,\u201d and \u201cthere\u2019s less snow and it melts earlier, which means less water will last long enough through winter and spring to feed streams and reservoirs for agricultural irrigators.\u201d It is also claimed that summers are trending hotter, and extreme heat waves are more frequent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning with drought, Oregon has not been suffering from more severe droughts over time. According to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor<\/a>, there is no indication that droughts in Oregon are worse today than they were 100+ years of warming ago. (See Figure below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the worst droughts seem to have occurred in the 1970s and 1930s. D4 drought conditions \u2013 the most severe, are less frequent and widespread this decade than they were during those periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the year 2000 to present, it\u2019s even less alarming. Oregon only experienced severe drought for a few months in in three years out of the past 24, in 2004, and 2021-2022, but even then, the droughts covered less than a one-third of the state. Currently, 24 percent of the state is experiencing \u201cmoderate drought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comports well with much of the data discussed for the United States in general in Climate at a Glance: Drought<\/a>, which explains that the United States has actually seen fewer droughts over time as the climate modestly warms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasoning for this is partially admitted by the article when OPB says that more precipitation is falling \u201cas rain instead of snow.\u201d This language is ripped directly from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information State Climate Summaries<\/a> (NCEIS); however, the Oregon summary page merely says that more precipitation \u201cis expected<\/em> to fall as rain instead of snow,\u201d not that it already is. No data indicates that snowfall has declined or is trending downward in recent years or decades, rather the NCEIS merely asserts that winter precipitation is expected to increase. Whether, in fact, precipitation will actually increase, and if it does, whether it will fall as snow or rain, is unknown and unknowable at the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National trends suggest that snowfall is decreasing slightly in late spring, but this doesn\u2019t seem to be the case for Oregon as of yet, looking at data<\/a> from the US Department of Agriculture National Water and Climate Center. (See figure below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Stacked elements are months of each year, focused on Feb, Mar, Apr, and May.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In fact, according to USDA data, which extends back to 1981, Oregon set its record for April snow-water equivalent in 2022, and second highest year was recorded in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding wildfires, again, as Climate Realism<\/em> has covered many times<\/a>, U.S. wildfires are not getting worse, nor are they getting worse in Oregon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Oregon Department of Forestry data<\/a>, except for two exceptional years in 2020 and 2021, when there was a drought, Oregon has not seen an increase in the acres burned in wildfires. (See figure below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heatwaves are likewise not getting worse in Oregon, at least not consistently. The NCEIS reports<\/a> that, while the number of extremely hot (over 100\u00b0F) days in Oregon were above average since the late 1980s, reaching peaks in 2005-2009 and 2015-2020, \u201cthe number was well below average during the 2010\u20132014 period,\u201d showing that there is a more complicated trend than a gradual march towards statewide eternal heat syncope. 2023 was likewise below average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPB claims that things are so bad for farmers that there is a need for \u201cworkshops and training to help food producers identify and define feelings like climate stress or grief and to find both emotional and agricultural ways to cope.\u201d But neither the long-term weather nor crop production trends support the idea that climate change is killing agriculture in Oregon. As a result, there is seemingly little need to identify anxiety over seasonal crop failures as \u201cclimate grief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the examples of farm problems cited in OPB\u2019s article was that of a hazelnut farmer losing his trees to frost. Yet, that one farmer\u2019s experience is not representative of hazelnut production for Oregon as a whole. In fact, Oregon is the country\u2019s top hazelnut producer. And, according to USDA data, hazelnut production in Oregon has exploded 149 percent since 1999. (See the Figure)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This example illustrates that anecdotal stories about the woes of a single or a few climate-concerned farmers is not a good metric for judging the state of agricultural production in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPB should stick to the facts instead of attempting to leverage the fears of farmers about crop losses into a climate story, and so should the organizers of so-called \u201cClimate Stress and Grief\u201d groups and seminars. Taking advantage of people whose livelihoods do depend on the weather by promoting unwarranted climate fears may make for good headlines and generate some income, but it is as wrong as efforts to ban<\/a> the fossil fuel use, when fossil fuels make adaptation to, resilience in the face of, and recovery from extreme weather possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The news site OPB [Oregon Public Broadcasting] posted an article titled \u201cClimate change increasingly taking a toll on Oregon farmers, ranchers,\u201d which claims that climate change is having such a serious impact on Oregon agriculture that farmers need special climate grief counseling to cope. This is false. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":336928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691819743,691829749,691829750],"class_list":{"0":"post-336926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-climate-propaganda","10":"tag-opb-oregon-public-broadcasting","11":"tag-oregon-farmers","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/00oregon-1721557_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C852&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1pEi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":341609,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341609","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":0},"title":"Wrong, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregonians Are Not Being \u201cHit Hard\u201d By Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/09\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article posted by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), titled \u201cClimate change will keep hitting Oregonians hard, but the exact impact will depend on where you live,\u201d claims that Oregon will be impacted severely on multiple fronts by climate change. Areas of concern include increased wildfires, sea level rise, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0ocean-770470_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0ocean-770470_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0ocean-770470_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0ocean-770470_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0ocean-770470_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":281323,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281323","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":1},"title":"What Oregon Teaches Us About The \u201cClimate Crisis\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cornwall Alliance By\u00a0Gregory Wrightstone I traveled to Oregon last week at the invitation of a CO2 Coalition supporter. Besides being completely off the grid at a lodge on the scenic Rogue River, I gave a presentation to about 50 people from southern Oregon after returning from the wilderness. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-910.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-910.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-910.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-910.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-910.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292438,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292438","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":2},"title":"Oregon\u2019s Climate Program Overruled","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/12\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oregon Court of Appeals struck down the state\u2019s ambitious Climate Protection Program. This decision, hailed by utilities and industry groups, is a stark reminder of the overreach often seen in state-level environmental regulations.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Program\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Program","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-program"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Crater-Lake-National-Park-Oregon-Red-Clouds-Sunset-Winter-Landscape.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Crater-Lake-National-Park-Oregon-Red-Clouds-Sunset-Winter-Landscape.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Crater-Lake-National-Park-Oregon-Red-Clouds-Sunset-Winter-Landscape.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Crater-Lake-National-Park-Oregon-Red-Clouds-Sunset-Winter-Landscape.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Crater-Lake-National-Park-Oregon-Red-Clouds-Sunset-Winter-Landscape.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":216463,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=216463","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":3},"title":"True, Post Millennial, Wind Turbines Are Problematic","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"31\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This incident sparked official investigations and forced Portland General Electric (PGE) to shut down all 217 turbines at the facility for testing.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1408.png?fit=1024%2C766&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1408.png?fit=1024%2C766&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1408.png?fit=1024%2C766&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1408.png?fit=1024%2C766&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":200692,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=200692","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":4},"title":"Relax, HortiDaily, Climate Change Is Not \u2018Taking Its Toll\u2019 on Spain\u2019s Agriculture","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A Google News search for the term \u201cclimate change\u201d today turned up a story published on HortiDaily which claims climate change is causing huge losses for Spain\u2019s agriculture industry. It\u2019s likely most of Spain\u2019s farmers would be surprised by this claim since data indicates it is false. Although farm production\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0Spain-crops.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":230144,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=230144","url_meta":{"origin":336926,"position":5},"title":"Snow in the Cascade Range: What Happens When It Vanishes?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"'Snow...What happens when it vanishes? ...The old patterns are changing.\" Are they\u00a0really?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/006032019_rainier_165655.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/006032019_rainier_165655.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/006032019_rainier_165655.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/006032019_rainier_165655.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/006032019_rainier_165655.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336926"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336936,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336926\/revisions\/336936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/336928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}