The Fifth National Climate Assessment, released this month, warns of wide-ranging climate impacts throughout the United States. The implications for people and the environment in the Mississippi River basin are extreme, but experts stress that it is not too late to slow the worsening effects.
 
From its headwaters in Minnesota to its salty mouth at the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River stretches across two regions of the country — the Midwest and the Southeast. The entire basin, including the river’s many tributaries, extends across five regions. The past two summers have brought extreme drought — threatening crops and shipping; extreme heat; and isolated extreme precipitation and flooding. The national report finds this will become common in the future.
 
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