This season’s drought shows that the effects of climate change are real, but it’s not as black and white as wet or dry.

By Katie Cerulle

On Oct. 5, 40 fire departments in Ford County, Illinois, responded to a field fire quickly picking up speed. Starting in a bean field, the flames traveled several miles across thousands of acres and swept across bean and corn fields. Three homes were close to danger, but firefighters and farmers were able to save them. Farmers used a disc harrow to turn and mix the soil, burying flammable material like grass and crop residue to create a firebreak. The flames ravaged the fields for about seven hours.

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