A lot of researchers with a lot of data provide the best answer to date, finding that the results of their study do not support the view that the global abundance of jellyfish is increasing as a result of “the deterioration of the world’s oceans.” What they do imply is the continuance of normal “recurrent phases of rise and fall in jellyfish populations that society should be prepared to face”… Read More
Northern Hemisphere Land Snow Cover: Simulations vs. Reality (30 Jul 2013)
In commenting on their findings, Brutel-Vuilmet et al. write that “in many respects, the simulated snow covers in the coupled models used in CMIP3 as analyzed by Roesch (2006) and CMIP5 have similar qualities and deficiencies,” leaving pause to wonder why so little progress has been made between the current generation of models and the prior one… Read More
Soybean Seed Yield as Impacted by Velvet Leaf Weed Infestations (30 Jul 2013)
How is the relationship altered by atmospheric CO2 enrichment? In the concluding words of Ziska, “the current study suggests that greater resilience of soybean yield to [velvet leaf weed] limitations may be possible with a future, higher CO2 concentration.” In fact, if Ziska’s results are anywhere near representative of reality – and there is no reason to believe otherwise – the “greater resilience” of which he writes is essentially insured… Read More
Permafrost Thermal Dynamics in CMIP5 Earth System Models (30 Jul 2013)
How well are these heat-related phenomena portrayed by the mathematical constructs that have been designed to describe them? Among other things, “the models show a wide range of behaviors under the current climate, with many failing to agree with fundamental aspects of the observed soil thermal regime at high latitudes”… Read More
Rice Cultivar Responses to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment (31 Jul 2013)
The fruits of this study’s labors clearly indicate the extreme importance of concentrating rice breeding efforts on cultivars that have strong positive responses to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, because without the help of this highly effective aerial fertilizer, we have little hope of being able to meet the 70% increase in crop yields that will be needed to feed the people of the world a mere 37 years from now. And for the same reason, breeders of all of the other major food crops of humanity should be pursuing the same course of action as well… Read More
Ocean Acidification: Separating the Winners from the Losers (31 Jul 2013)
In the words of the authors of this study, is likely that “ocean acidification will lead to selection against susceptible phenotypes as well as to rapid fixation of alleles that allow reproduction under more acidic conditions,” which phenomena “may ameliorate the biotic effects of climate change if taxa have sufficient extant genetic variation upon which selection can act”… Read More
Crustose Coralline Algae in a CO2-Enriched Ocean (31 Jul 2013)
The prevailing theoriy is that Mg-calcite corals with higher Mg content will undergo greatest dissolution under ocean acidification, yet the authors of this experiment “were surprised to find a trend in the opposite direction”… Read More
Dr. Idso is the founder, former president, and currently chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change.
