Climate change in Kentucky

Average annual rainfall is increasing, and a rising percentage of that rain is falling on the four wettest days of the year.

In the coming decades, the changing climate is likely to reduce crop yields and threaten some aquatic ecosystems.

Floods may be more frequent, and droughts may be longer, which would increase the difficulty of meeting the competing demands for water in the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers".

But rising temperatures increase evaporation, which dries the soil and decreases the amount of rain that runs off into rivers.

By lowering water levels, these releases provide greater capacity for the reservoirs behind those dams to prevent flooding.

[1] According to the Fifth National Climate Assessment published in 2023, "Appalachian states like Kentucky and West Virginia have seen devastating flooding from rainstorms".

Summer droughts may amplify these effects, while periods of extreme rainfall can increase the impacts of pollution on streams".

Higher temperatures are also likely to reduce livestock productivity: hot weather causes cows to eat less, grow more slowly, and produce less milk, and it can threaten their health".