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Volume 4 Number 13:  28 March 2001

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

Current Editorial
Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment Increases Quantity of Plant Biomass Without Sacrificing Quality: A major review of the scientific literature pertaining to the effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment on plant constituents related to animal and human health suggests that the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content will leave some nutritional properties of plant tissues unaffected while enhancing others, including certain plant medicinal properties, at the same time that it increases plant productivity.

Subject Index Summaries
Climate Model Inadequacies (Clouds): A review of the recent scientific literature suggests that state-of-the-art climate models are not too impressive when it comes to their treatment of clouds.

Soil Water Status: A review of the recent scientific literature suggests - and in some cases actually demonstrates - that earth's soils will exhibit increases in their moisture-holding capacities as the CO2 content of the air continues to rise, enabling plants to better cope with drought stress and survive the rigors of regions that have historically been too dry to support life.

Current Journal Reviews
Evidence for the Little Ice Age Way "Down Under": A proxy temperature record derived from an ocean sediment core off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula reveals the cyclical nature of climate variability there, including the occurrence of the likely-solar-induced Little Ice Age.

Climate Variability in Spain Over the Past Millennium: A search for extreme climatic excursions in Spain reveals the 200-year period centered on the coldest part of the Little Ice Age to have been far more variable than any other period of the past millennium, suggesting it is cold - not warmth - that brings climatic chaos.

Coastal Flooding on the Decrease in France: Analyses of tide-gauge and meteorological data from the northern coast of France over the period 1951-1997 reveal decreasing trends in both the number of storms and the frequency and magnitude of coastal flooding.  But don't the climate alarmists say just the opposite should be happening?  And wouldn't that mean that ...

Elevated CO2 Doubly Stimulates Growth in Grasslands at Low Soil Moisture: Atmospheric CO2 enrichment increased the biomass production of the plants of simulated calcareous grasslands at the same time it reduced their stomatal conductances; and the consequently enhanced moisture contents of the soils of the CO2-enriched grasslands increased their plants' productivities even more, much like a two-for-the-price-of-one sale!

Elevated CO2 Spurs Growth and Water Use Efficiency of Spring Wheat and Meadow Fescue in Finland: What more can we say?  Maybe that the increase in water use efficiency produced by a doubling of the air's CO2 content could rise as high as 100% or more?  Yes, we could say that.