The Urban & Rural Land Climate Connection

Farmers, ranchers, and landowners increasingly experience the impacts of climate change as severe storms, floods, drought, and wildfire damage their operations and impact their livelihoods. Hosts Robert Mace and Carrie Thompson speak with Kristy Oates, State Conservationist for the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), about working with private landowners to develop conservation (and climate) solutions that support rural Texans.

In this episode, our hosts cover several topics:

• Drought is causing low flows & high bacteria levels in many spring-fed systems across Texas (1:13)
• Texas could face its 3rd year of La Niña weather conditions (03:45)
• Meadows Center’s new research project will help prepare Texas for climate change (5:47)
• Global warming is causing fewer tropical cyclones (11:49)
• Texas co. teams up with a Harvard scientist to combat climate change by reviving the woolly mammoth (16:21)
• Nestlé cut greenhouse gases by 4 million tons since 2018 (19:39)

An interview with Kristy Oates: 

• Leads conservation services operations within Texas for NRCS (23:59)
• NRCS works in every county across Texas to provide private landowners with services to get conservation on the ground (26:15)
• Offers science-based solutions & targeted conservation practices to help landowners mitigate climate change (28:14)
• Many conservation practices offered by NRCS play an integral role in carbon storage & climate mitigation (30:27)
• Dust Bowl was the catalyst for the creation of NRCS (31:07)
• Helps landowners build conservation & drought management plans & also offers financial assistance (34:19)
• Rural & urban lands are interconnected; urban areas rely on rural areas to meet their demands for food, water, etc. (41:45)
• NRCS is voluntary, not regulatory – all management decisions are ultimately up to the landowner (44:34)/li>
• Advice for engaging landowners in the “conservation conversation” (48:00)

Along with some feel-good stories to leave you inspired, like: 

• A rare coffee bean species, stenophylla, is resilient to a hot and dry climate (54:34)
• Scientists are experimenting with transplanting heat tolerant reef-making species into the Great Barrier Reef (57:26)
• Cities are enacting building performance standards to save energy, water, and money (01:00:41)

Articles Mentioned in this Episode: 

• Federally funded study will examine how climate change is impacting Texas water (SA Report)
• Global Warming Causes Fewer Tropical Cyclones (Scientific American) 
• Texas company, Harvard scientist hope to combat climate change by reviving the woolly mammoth (CBS)
• Nestlé Has Cut Greenhouse Gases by 4 Million Tons Since 2018. How? (Environmental Leader)
• To survive climate change, coffee must embrace new and resilient beans (Washington Post)
• Scientists Learning How To Help Coral Reefs (AAAS)