In California’s Farm Country, Climate Change Is Likely to Trigger More Pesticide Use, Fouling Waterways
Warmer temperatures would boost pest populations, causing farmers to use more insecticides that, with more frequent and severe storms, turn into toxic runoff.
May 10, 2021
A helicopter sprays insecticide on a field outside of El Centro, California in the Imperial Valley on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. Credit: Sandy Huffaker/Corbis via Getty Images
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Every spring, California farmers brace themselves for signs of wriggling organisms destined to launch multigenerational attacks on their crops.
Many insect species survive the winter as eggs or larvae and then emerge in early spring as the first generation to feed and breed on millions of acres of California vineyards, orchards and row crops. Climate change will complicate farmers’ efforts to control these pests in complex and unpredictable ways.
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April Dembosky kios.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kios.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April Dembosky
April Dembosky is the health reporter for The California Report and KQED News. She covers health policy and public health, and has reported extensively on the economics of health care, the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act in California, mental health and end-of-life issues. Her work is regularly rebroadcast on NPR and has been recognized with awards from the Society for Professional Journalists (for sports reporting), and the Association of Health Care Journalists (for a story about pediatric hospice). Her hour-long radio documentary about home funeralswon the Best New Artist award from the Third Coast International Audio Festival in 2009. April occasionally moonlights on the arts beat, covering music and dance. Her story about the first symphony orchestra at Burning Man won the award for Best Use of Sound from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. Before joining KQED in 2013, April covered technology and Silicon Valley for The Financial Times, and freelanced
April Dembosky | South Carolina Public Radio southcarolinapublicradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southcarolinapublicradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.