How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

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Volume 6 Number 26:  25 June 2003

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

Editorial
Ice Core Studies Prove CO2 Is Not the Powerful Climate Driver Climate Alarmists Make It Out to Be: Studies of polar ice cores demonstrate that variations in atmospheric CO2 concentration are not what make or break ice ages.  By inference, there is little reason to believe they have played, or are currently playing, a major role in the establishment of the Modern Warm Period.

Subject Index Summaries
Decadal-Scale Climate Oscillations (Arctic): Climate alarmists fret about what they believe to be unprecedented warming over the past quarter-century.  However, earth's climate is always changing on this timescale and others; and we must understand these natural swings in temperature before we can ascribe any recent warming to human-induced causes.

FACE Experiments (Trees -- Pine): How is the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content likely to affect earth's forests?  A long-term and still-ongoing FACE experiment being conducted in a loblolly pine plantation at the Duke Forest in North Carolina is providing some rare insights into this question.

Journal Reviews
Over Half a Century of Length-of-Snow-Season Data for Northern Eurasia: What do the data show?  A shrinkage in snow season length, as would be expected in the face of unprecedented concomitant global warming?  No change in snow season length?  Or possibly even a slight increase in snow season length?

South African Rainfall in the 20th Century: How has it changed as the earth has gradually emerged from the global chill of the Little Ice Age?

Severe Storms in the United States: Are they getting worse?  Are they becoming more frequent?  Is global warming to blame?  The authors' review of the scientific literature provides some interesting answers to these important questions.

The Effect of Elevated CO2 on Plant Size Variability: In a monospecific stand of vegetation, are all individual plants equally benefited by atmospheric CO2 enrichment?  A group of scientists from Japan investigates this intriguing question.

Response of AM Fungal Spore Production to Elevated CO2: How does it vary in the field?  … for eleven species of fungi?  … growing in the soil under sixteen species of plants?  … in monoculture?  …in polyculture?