Environmental Impacts

Impacts to the environment may be temporary or permanent. Examples include:

• Lower water levels in lakes, rivers, reservoirs
• Lack of food and water for wildlife
• Destruction of habitats for fish and wildlife
• Wind and water erosion of soils
• Poor soil quality
• Increased risk of intense wildfires
• Decreased air quality from wildfires
• Increase in plant pests and diseases
• Migrations and hibernations are affected
• The map on the right shows the exceptional drought in the Oklahoma panhandle in March 2017, which led to intense wildfires visible from space (see the satellite image above the map, with red dots indicating fire locations).