Chris Bentley

2 weeks ago | wusf.org | Chris Bentley

From the top of a Mississippi River barge, Adam Thomas surveys his farmland and the 40-foot earthen levee meant to keep water off his fields. But there’s one problem: This barge is not in the river. It’s on top of his crops, about one mile inland. Soybeans sprout from the soil around two massive steel containers, which can carry more than a thousand tons of cargo each. Since they were washed aground by a flood in 2019, the only load these barges have carried is rainwater.

2 weeks ago | wbur.org | Chris Bentley

From the top of a Mississippi River barge, Adam Thomas surveys his farmland and the 40-foot earthen levee meant to keep water off his fields. But there’s one problem: This barge is not in the river. It’s on top of his crops, about one mile inland. Soybeans sprout from the soil around two massive steel containers, which can carry more than a thousand tons of cargo each. Since they were washed aground by a flood in 2019, the only load these barges have carried is rainwater.

2 weeks ago | wusf.org | Chris Bentley

Few people see the Mississippi River the way John Ruskey does. Ruskey runs Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He and his team of guides lead tours of the river in wooden dugout canoes, paddling like French pioneers from the 17th century and Indigenous people long before them.

2 weeks ago | wbur.org | Chris Bentley

Few people see the Mississippi River the way John Ruskey does. Ruskey runs Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He and his team of guides lead tours of the river in wooden dugout canoes, paddling like French pioneers from the 17th century and Indigenous people long before them.

2 weeks ago | wrvo.org | Chris Bentley |Peter O’Dowd

The Mississippi River sculpted the nation, but now the people who live along it are dealing the effects of climate change. Here & Now traveled the Mississippi River to see how they're adapting. Click through to explore their coverage. How does climate change affect where and how we live? The energy used to operate buildings results in more than a fourth of global carbon dioxide pollution. And climate change threatens communities with risks like floods and wildfire.