How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

Click to locate material archived on our website by topic


Web Site Organization
Welcome to the official web site of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change!

As indicated in our Mission Statement, the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change (hereafter referred to as the Center) was incorporated in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona in January 1998 as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit public charity dedicated to discovering and disseminating scientific information pertaining to the effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment on climate and the biosphere.  Central to our plan of accomplishing this goal has been the implementation of this web site, which we describe briefly below.

The primary products of our web site are timely and objective reviews of scientific research reports on the biological and climatological effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment, which are posted weekly in our Internet journal CO2 Science.  Articles to be reviewed are selected from the peer-reviewed scientific literature.  We summarize and interpret the findings of those articles that we feel contribute the most significant scientific information to the ongoing debate over potential global change.  Each new issue of CO2 Science contains five of these Journal Reviews.

Journal Reviews from previous issues of the Magazine are archived, along with all other material on the web site, in our Subject Index, where we maintain a repository of information on various topics related to carbon dioxide and global change.  The material listed under each subject heading is periodically reviewed to produce relevant summaries, which are continually updated as newer material is added.

Our Carbon Sequestration Commentaries deal with the developing field of research that seeks to elucidate ways in which the storing of carbon in living and dead organic matter can be enhanced.  In this section we report on natural inducements to remove CO2 from the air and sequester its carbon in vegetative biomass and soil organic matter that are provided by the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content.  We also report on artificial inducements to achieve this goal that are provided by anthropogenic initiatives.

In our World Temperatures section, patrons may calculate temperature trends for the entire globe or for selected regions of the globe using four different data sets.  Output includes a graphical representation of temperature anomalies over a user-selected time interval, as well as access to these data in tabular form.  A linear regression line of the temperature trend over time is also displayed along with its associated statistics, which can further be analyzed for significance at the 95% and 99% levels.

We also maintain a section of U.S. Climate Data.  Here, patrons may calculate temperature and precipitation trends for 1221 locations in the conterminous United States using the United States Historical Climatology Network data set.  On a weekly basis we select and highlight one of these stations and post it on our web site as the Temperature Record of the Week

In the section on Plant Growth Data, we tabulate the results of experimental determinations of plant growth responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment.  These data are listed alphabetically according to plant names (both scientific and common) in individual tables.

In our Global Change Laboratory section, we describe simple experiments that illustrate the effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment and depletion on vegetative growth and development.  To this end, we utilize the "Poor Man's Biosphere" technique of experimentation pioneered by the President of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Dr. Sherwood B. Idso, where plants are grown inside sealed aquariums or other containers maintained at different CO2 concentrations.  We have developed a number of such experiments that can be performed by nearly anyone anywhere in the world at very little expense, and we invite schools and individuals to utilize them in their classrooms and homes.

Finally, in About the Center we tell who we are, how to contact us, and what our position is on various subjects related to carbon dioxide and global change; and in the Dictionary we provide a ready reference for learning the language of the rapidly expanding field of global change research.  Patrons may also click on Web Site Awards to see how other organizations are recognizing and responding to our efforts. The Center Listserver page tells how to receive free e-mail notification of the new material that is included in each new issue of CO2 Science; and our web site's Search Engine allows patrons to search all material posted on the site by key word.

We hope you find the information contained in these pages both interesting and useful.  We welcome your comments and look forward to serving you in the years to come!