How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

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Volume 5 Number 2:  9 January 2002

Temperature Record of the Week
This issue's Temperature Record of the week is from Winnsboro, Louisiana. Visit our U.S. Climate Data section to plot and view these data for yourself.

Current Editorial
Global Warming: A Matter of Life and Death: Climate alarmists are quick to point the finger of blame at global warming for deaths caused by heat waves, claiming these aberrant weather events will become more prevalent if temperatures continue to rise.  What they typically fail to mention, however, is that even more lives would be spared under such conditions, as a result of the fewer cold spells that would result from a warming of the globe.

Subject Index Summaries
North Atlantic Deep Water: The rate of formation of the stuff has got to figure highly in all realistic analyses of what will probably not happen to the world if we continue merrily on our way of mining and burning ever greater quantities of fossil fuels.  So ... we better learn something about it.

Stomatal Conductance (Agricultural Crops): As the air's CO2 content rises, nearly all agricultural plants exhibit reduced stomatal conductances, which often results in reduced transpirational water loss and greater water-use efficiency by crops.  In addition, these reductions in stomatal conductance offer plants protection against the growth-reducing influences of various diseases and noxious air pollutants.

Carbon Sequestration Commentary
Astute Farm Management Practices Can Significantly Enhance Soil Carbon Sequestration: Working hand-in-hand, farmers and scientists can make a major contribution to the effort to slow the rate-of-rise of the air's CO2 content - not that it's needed to forestall global warming, but because it's one of the best things that can be done to promote soil health.

Current Journal Reviews
Looking for Evidence of Global Warming in Asia-Pacific River Runoff Data: It's the bottom of the ninth, and the climate alarmists, trailing by three, are up to bat.  Will the authors' study provide them a grand slam, revealing an intensified hydrologic cycle with more total runoff, more floods and more droughts?  Or will it be three up, three down ... and another loss?  Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets!

Late Holocene Climate in South Africa: As in other studies we have highlighted, truth shines forth from the depths of a dark cave, illuminating the folly of climate alarmists who claim the Little Ice Age was but a minor climatic phenomenon of little global significance, out of which we have been delivered as a consequence of CO2-induced global warming, which for some strange reason they greatly disparage.

Elevated CO2 Reduces Visible O3-Induced Foliar Injury in Aspen Clones: In an ongoing FACE experiment, elevated O3 caused significant visible foliar damage to aspen clones growing at ambient CO2.  Although elevated CO2 did not completely counterbalance the negative effects of ozone, it did reduce visible leaf injuries by 40%.

Differential Responses of Aspen Genotypes to Elevated CO2: In an open-top chamber study of aspen clones, elevated O3 caused significant reductions in total plant dry weight, with greater reductions occurring in ozone-sensitive vs. ozone-tolerant clones.  Simultaneous exposure to elevated CO2 alleviated most of the growth-reducing effects of ozone in ozone-tolerant clones, but ameliorated only a small portion of the ozone-induced growth reductions in ozone-sensitive clones.

Strawberry Fields Forever: The more CO2 you give 'em, the more they like it.  Even at high air temperatures?  Of course.  Even on dry summer days when they're stressed for water?  You bet.  It's truly something to sing about!