Water-Energy-Food Nexus Part 4

Description

Join the Energy and Environmental Programs Speaker Series for part 4 of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Series. The guest speaker is Gannet Hallar, a director at Storm Peak Laboratory and associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah.

This talk will introduce the connections between the energy-water-food nexus with a focus on the impacts of climate change and agricultural expansion in altering the landscape of the U.S. Great Plains, producing increases in windblown dust. Gannet Hallar will present recent results from satellite data combined with surface networks to show a significant increase in airborne dust over the last two decades. This airborne dust is negatively influencing human health and visibility and coincides with increases in agricultural production. These results foreshadow a future where desertification becomes an increasing risk in the Great Plains in the event of increased drought severity or frequency due to climate change. Potential solutions to avoid desertification and health risks will be discussed.