Climate Extension In the Southeast USA: Innovative Ideas to Increase the Climate Literacy of Stakeholders and Develop Adaptation Strategies.

Seasonal climate variability plays an important role in the production risks faced by producers. The majority of crop failures in the USA are associated with either a lack or excess of rainfall. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is the strongest driver of interannual climate variability around the world and affects crop production in many regions including the southeastern USA. In addition to these natural causes of climate variability, human activities have been shown to influence climate in many ways. Land use changes, the paving and development of sprawling urban areas, the draining of wetlands, and increased aerosols in our atmosphere are all anthropogenic forcings to our climate system. Perhaps the most significant human influence today is the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have modified the Earth-atmosphere energy balance, leading to a warming of the system. Independently if the variability is due to short-term cycles or longer-term trends, producers need to become more resilient to the challenges posed by climate during the cropping season and start incorporating adaptation strategies into their decision making process. With that in mind we developed a climate adaptation exchange fair that exposes farmers to existing technologies and management practices that can help them reduce production risks associated with climate variability and foster the exchange of ideas, success stories, and challenges posed by them. This paper will discuss our experience with the “climate adaptation exchange fair” and other innovative ways to increase the climate literacy of stakeholders and develop an effective climate extension program in the Southeast USA.