Once again we have another real-world example of the occurrence of intense tropical cyclone activity being totally independent of concomitant mean global air temperature over the past three decades… Read More
Evolutionary Rescue of a Species in a Deteriorating Environment (9 Apr 2013)
The take-home message of this study’s experimental work, as described by its authors, is that “the evolutionary rescue events observed in this study provide evidence that major shifts in ways of life can arise within short time frames through the action of natural selection in sexual populations”… Read More
Biases in the Output of Global and Regional Circulation Models (9 Apr 2013)
Ehret et al. argue that the exists a set of negative consequences of bias correction that “hides rather than reduces uncertainty” in both global and regional circulation models, which they suggest may lead to avoidable forejudging of end users and decision makers.” And they thus conclude that bias correction is often “not a valid procedure”… Read More
Coral Decline on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (9 Apr 2013)
Cyclone activity was responsible for fully 48% of the coral mortality that was experienced on the Great Barrier Reef over the past 27 years. Contemplating the future, in light of the demonstrable fact that rising temperatures have either negligible impact on the yearly number and character of tropical cyclones, or that they actually tend to reduce such storm activity, the future of Great Barrier Reef corals is not as bleak as some contend… Read More
Long-Term Responses of Coccolithophores to Ocean Acidification (10 Apr 2013)
Three researchers look 50 million years back in time and determine that “atmospheric pCO2 exerted an important long-term control on coccolithophores, either directly through its availability for photosynthesis or indirectly via weathering supply of resources for growth and calcification.” In either event – or both – it is clear that their findings are, as they put it, “consistent with inferred coccolith mass increase with rising atmospheric pCO2 over the past two centuries”… Read More
Terrestrial Ecosystems of Northern Canada in a State of Flux (10 Apr 2013)
As reported by the nine researchers of this study, there has been “an increase in plant growth over time,” where “increased shrub cover has occurred in sites across the Arctic at both the plot and landscape scale.” Such phenomenon “was supported by results from experimental warming,” which “increased vegetation cover and nutrient availability in most tundra soils.” In addition, they say that “all sites measured were sinks for carbon during the growing season,” and they state that “modeled responses of a mesic tundra system to climate change showed that the sink status will likely continue for the next 50-100 years”… Read More
Thermal History Impacts Thermal Tolerance of Freshwater Mussels (10 Apr 2013)
Exposure to a little extra heat enables mussels to tolerate even more heat… Read More
Dr. Idso is the founder, former president, and currently chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change.
