StateImpact Event: Is Oklahoma Prepared for a Changing Climate?

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma

Lisa Davis (right) with the advocacy group Save Lake Texoma near the Rooster Creek Bridge at Lake Texoma State Park.

How is climate change affecting Oklahoma’s environment, ecology and economy? It’s a controversial issue, and regardless of where you stand on it, the long-term forecasts are clear: The next 50 years are expected be hotter and dryer in Oklahoma, straining water supplies and stifling agriculture — unless we adapt.

StateImpact has assembled a panel of experts to answer our questions and make sure yours get answered, too, at a free public forum at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30 at Picasso Cafe in Oklahoma City.

Is Oklahoma Prepared for a Changing Climate?

Time: 6:00 p.m.
Date: April 30, 2014
Place: Picasso Cafe
3009 Paseo St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
(MAP!)

As StateImpact has reported, scientists and researchers are working with farmers and ranchers to grow drought resistant crops, maintain livestock herds more efficiently, and ensure there’s enough water for both irrigation and expanding populations in western Oklahoma.

Panelists

Clay Pope, executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, which focuses on the maintenance and rehabilitation of flood control structures in watersheds across the state, and partners with organizations and landowners to keep water clean.

OSU professor and director of the university’s Water Research and Extension Center, Dr. David Engle, brings his expertise to the panel as well. Engle’s research includes the development of technologies and techniques to protect Oklahoma’s landscape from being damaged by farming and ranching, population growth, and invasive species.