Central Iowa will soon become home to a new federal office that will focus on climate change. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will open seven offices nationwide, including one in Ames, that will be called climate change mitigation centers, or climate hubs. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the hubs will study everything from flooding to droughts to insect invasions.
The research will be used to guide farmers, ranchers and the owners of forestland on how to best cope with the problems Mother Nature is tossing our way. Other climate hubs will be located in North Carolina, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Oregon, Oklahoma and Colorado.