Birge said that the growth and expansion of eastern red cedar trees across the Sand Hills and other grasslands will make wildfires more damaging in the future.State policymakers should get more engaged in addressing climate change, Moenning said, noting that Nebraska is one of the few states that hasnвЂ™t adopted a climate action plan.But he said voluntary and incentive-based programs work best with those in agriculture, rather than top-down solutions. McHargue said farmers and ranchers are engaged every day in dealing with the climate.history, causing an estimated $2.9 billion in damages. He said the March 2019 вЂњbomb cycloneвЂќ flooding in Nebraska and Iowa was the вЂњcostliest inland flooding eventвЂќ in U.S. Jesse Bell, director of the water, climate and health program at UNMC, said climate change is already having health impacts in the state, citing the longer season for ragweed pollen.Д«ell and others on the panel said itвЂ™s clear that Nebraska is having more вЂњextreme weatherвЂќ events, citing the unprecedented 30-tornado outbreak in December and the wind-blown wildfires earlier this year. вЂњOne thing we like to say is we donвЂ™t need to be right, we just want to be happy,вЂќ Birge said. Hannah Birge of the Nature Conservancy, who works with farmers and ranchers to increase production while adopting conservation practices, said some believe the climate is changing and some donвЂ™t. It wasnвЂ™t a debate about whether climate change was real or not or what role humans played in the change, but more of a conversation about how different sectors in Nebraska were adapting to an increase in extreme weather. The event, held at LincolnвЂ™s Lied Center for the Performing Arts, was sponsored by Humanities Nebraska and drew a crowd of about 100 people, as well as others watching online. Those two officials, and representatives of the Nature Conservancy and University of Nebraska Medical Center, engaged in a 90-minute discussion entitled вЂњWeathering Uncertainty: Our Connections to Climate.вЂќ вЂњWe can grow whatever the market wants,вЂќ McHargue said. Mark McHargue, a Central City farmer and the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said that the stateвЂ™s ample water provides a great advantage if climate change forces a change in agricultural crops. The development of wind farms has generated jobs in northeast Nebraska, Moenning said, and has increased tax revenue and income for farmers leasing land for wind turbines or solar panels. вЂњItвЂ™s not about politics, itвЂ™s about adaptation,вЂќ said Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning, who owns a small renewable-energy business and has worked as a director of the clean energy group New Power Nebraska. (Nebraska Examiner)В -В A wide-ranging вЂњconversationвЂќ about climate change Wednesday night might have reached agreement on one thing: Climate change could present some opportunities for Nebraska.ДЇrom increased income from leasing land for wind or solar farms, to helping Fortune 500 companies sequester carbon, to utilizing the stateвЂ™s abundant water resources for new crops, panelists suggested that Nebraska might be in a good position if predictions of hotter summers and wetter winters in the future hold true.

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