Current Editorial
The Origin of Modern Coral Susceptibility to Bleaching: Does it reside in the global warming of the 20th century?  Or does it spring from a host of more localized anthropogenic assaults upon the waters in which the periodically affected corals grow?

Subject Index Summaries
Lakes: What can the study of lakes tell us about real-world climate and the virtual world of model-based climate?

Salinity Effects (Plants): A brief review of some of the pertinent scientific literature indicates that future increases in the air's CO2 concentration will likely allow plants to better deal with the growth-retarding influence of high soil salinity.

Current Journal Reviews
Earth's Temperature Response to Variations in Solar Irradiance: Can it account for 20th century global warming?

Record Minimum Arctic Sea Ice in 2002: What does it portend for the future?

Sulfur Dioxide Pollution of Russian Forests: What can be done to turn back the damage?

Effects of Elevated CO2 on Fine Roots in an Oak-Palmetto Scrub Ecosystem: It is sometimes claimed that plants will not respond positively to increases in the air's CO2 content when soil nutrients and moisture limit growth under current ambient CO2 concentrations.  This study investigates this question as it pertains to fine root growth in a nutrient-poor and often water-limited oak-palmetto scrub ecosystem.

Winter Wheat Yield Response to Anticipated CO2 and Climate Changes in Central Europe: How will future CO2 and climate changes impact winter wheat production in Central Europe?  Using a crop growth model driven by experimentally derived data on growth response to atmospheric CO2 enrichment and climatic data obtained from five different GCMs, the authors of this paper feel they have found the answer.