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Volume 3 Number 26:  11 October 2000

Editorial
Bush and Gore on Global Warming: Sizing Up the Candidates: We analyze the responses of Texas Governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Al Gore to a question on global warming put to them by the monthly science journal Physics Today. And the winner is...

Subject Index Summaries
El Niņo

Hurricanes

Ozone

Precipitation

Streamflow

Journal Reviews
The Urbanization of America's Watersheds: Climatic Implications: A study of 51 watersheds in the eastern United States reveals the existence of a powerful regional warming response to the rural-to-urban transformation of these watersheds.  This phenomenon manifests itself at the first hint of watershed urbanization and may be present in temperature records previously believed to be free of urban influences.  Its presence may therefore be falsely assumed to reveal greenhouse-induced global warming that in reality does not exist.

The Urbanization of America's Watersheds: Streamflow Implications: A statistical study of the effects of increasing population density on 60 different watershed basins in four different regions of the United States demonstrates that the effects of urbanization on watershed runoff greatly mitigate - and sometimes can more than compensate for - the negative effects of global warming on streamflow.

Rocky Mountain High: Ecological and Hydrological Effects of Increases in Atmospheric CO2 and Air Temperature: A model study of high-elevation ecosystem response to atmospheric CO2 enrichment and global warming paints a picture of multiple biospheric benefits.

Elevated CO2 and Root Decomposition in Wheat: Elevated CO2 did not significantly impact rates of wheat crop residue decomposition, nor did it affect overall carbon and nitrogen mineralization in associated experimental soils.

Elevated CO2 Reduces Root Decomposition Rates, Even at High Temperatures: Elevated CO2 increased root biomass in Lolium perenne, which increased carbon fluxes into microbial biomass and soil residues.  In addition, elevated CO2 reduced the decomposition rates of plant roots and root-derived materials by 14% and 12% at ambient and elevated air temperatures, respectively.