How is united states food supply affected by agricultural issues and climate changes

In the United States, agriculture as an industry and a sector ranges from small scale to large-scale commercial farms. Agricultural production is a major industry contributing to about 1% of the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Over the years, the agricultural sector has experienced an increase by an average of five percent each year since the year 1990. Contrastingly, the industry is being shaken by quite a number of climatic factors on top of the US President’s crackdown on illegal immigration. This essay seeks to provide insight and discuss climate impacts on agriculture and the overall food supply in the United States.

Despite advancements in technology which have increased crop yields, extreme weather conditions can cause significant reductions in crop yields (USGCRP, 2009). The US supplies a significant amount of food into the world market. Temperature changes, atmospheric carbon dioxide and frequent extreme weather conditions can have significant effects on the average annual crop yields. This is because, this factors (temperatures and increased precipitation), can prevent crops from growing. This situation results to decreased crop yields reducing the food supply from the US agricultural sector into the world market (USGCRP, 2014).

Moreover, heat waves which are projected to increase under climatic changes could intensively threaten livestock production in the US. Heat stress results to increased vulnerability of livestock to diseases, reduces animal fertility and milk production. In addition, drought which is associated with climate change may threaten pasture and feed supplies, reducing the general amount of quality forage available for grazing livestock. Furthermore, early onset of winters and summers may result to increased survival rates of parasites and pathogens (CCSP, 2008).

On top of this, climate changes may affect the United State’s fisheries which contribute handsomely to her economy ($1. 55 billions annually) (USDA, 2012). This is because climate changes have been observed to cause a shift in breeding patterns of fish and a shift in their living environments. For example, the American lobster, red Jake and black sea bass have been observed to have moved northward by an average of about 119 miles ( US EPA, 2016). Moreover, on top of warming, the world’s oceans are gradually becoming acidic due to increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). This would harm shellfish by weakening their shells which are created by removing calcium from sea water (USGCRP, 2014).

In conclusion, adverse climatic conditions can have adverse effects on the production and supply of agricultural production by the United States. Climatic impacts on food supply may result to food shortages a situation which may cause humanitarian crises. In addition, it may result to increased domestic food prices. The United States government should come up with strategies to reduce the impact of climatic factor on the agricultural sector and food supply.