Study looks at Crops' effect on weather by Zuzana Krskova

Regional weather patterns and wildfires may be caused in the planting corn and soybean crops, says NASA funded study at South Dakota State University. Geoff Henebry, SDSU professor said, that many factors can change the seasonal cycle of exchanges of water and energy between the land and the lower portion of the atmosphere. Dried- out grasses could become a problem in region with a relatively high sustained winds. This is the cause of large grass fires and many fire departments don't have experience in this. Such fires were common thousands of years before Europian settlement. Switchgrass is highly flammable than prerennial grasses, which use more water early in their growing season. "So the idea is to get out ahead of the curve and try to envision some of these things rather than being in a reactive mode somewhere down the line after they become a problem." Wimberly said. Switchgrass are used for biofuel & which is expected to be more widely used in future ethanol production. Study is timely because it involves feedstocks such as Switchgrass. The goal of researchers is not to predict exactly what will happen, but to make reasonable assumptions so potential consequences can become a part of discussion. Research could lead to the development of practices to decrease such risks.

by Zuzana Krskova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.