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Flooded Fields in Oakville, IowaFlooded fields surround an Oakville, Iowa, farmstead in the wake of heavy rains that saturated the Midwest in the summer of 2008. Rivers topped their banks and broke through levees, flooding farms and cities alike—some 100 blocks of Cedar Rapids were submerged and millions of acres of wheat and corn crops were ruined.Some climate scientists believe that more extreme rain and flooding events are likely as Earth’s climate changes.

Photograph by John Stanmeyer/VII

Flood, Drought, and Climate Change Photos

Scientists say that Earth’s changing climate will speed the melting of glaciers, drive droughts, and spawn more violent storms, dramatically altering the way we work with water.