LAUSR

Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners have seen an increase in risks to their operations in recent decades. The next century is expected to be much more uncertain, with increased atmospheric carbon dioxide driving changes in precipitation and temperature patterns. Working lands and livestock will experience increased biotic and abiotic stressors. These stressors coupled with extreme events and projected future changes to the climate will likely have a detrimental effect on crops, forests, and livestock by midcentury and beyond (Walthall 2013). Since 1880, global average surface temperatures have increased by 0.94 °C due to the increased production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) (NASA 2017). Atmospheric CO2 concentration is at its highest levels in 650,000 years (406 μmol mol) (NASA 2017). In addition to the pressures of a changing climate is the growing population projected to increase from 7.5 billion (April, 2017) to 11.2 billion people in the year 2100 that will require sustainable food and water supplies to maintain food and water security (United Nations 2017). There are opportunities for mitigation of climate change, and agriculture and forest systems can play a role given the fact that in 2015 agriculture contributed 9% of the GHG emission to the atmosphere while land-use and forestry offset 11.8% of the total emissions in the USA (EPA 2017). Without a plan to address these challenges, however, producers face limited options, rural economies suffer, the food supply is placed at risk, and the natural resource base is compromised. Regional Climate Hubs were formed by USDA in 2014 to help connect research to assistance, support, and monitoring programs with the goal to ultimately help land managers adapt to a changing climate. Ten Regional Climate Hubs located across the country support Climatic Change (2018) 146:1–3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-2129-3