How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

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Volume 5 Number 38:  18 September 2002

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

Current Editorial
The Effects of Temperature and CO2 Trends on the 1981-1999 Greening of North America and Eurasia: A controversy has recently developed over what was primarily responsible for the observed increases in annual vegetative biomass production throughout North America and Eurasia over the final two decades of the 20th century.  We here resolve the issue.

Subject Index Summaries
Regional Precipitation Trends (Africa): Is real-world precipitation in Africa doing what climate models say it should?

Water Use Efficiency (Agricultural Species): A review of the recent pertinent literature demonstrates that nearly all agricultural crops will exhibit increases in water-use efficiency as the air's CO2 content continues to rise.  This phenomenon should enable them to better cope with drought stress and allow them to be grown in regions where they currently cannot survive to maturity due to limited soil moisture availability.

Carbon Sequestration Commentary
Atmospheric CO2, Soil Nitrogen and Plant Phenolics: How Their Interaction Influences Carbon Sequestration in Soils: A large body of research is beginning to illustrate how the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content is enhancing the rate at which carbon is sequestered in the world's soils.  A key element in this phenomenon is adequate soil nutrition; and atmospheric CO2 enrichment promotes the development of this condition too.

Current Journal Reviews
A Millennial Climate Record Emerges From the Swamps of New Zealand: And the "Swamp Thing" is making short shrift of the favorite claims of Climate Alarmists.

U.S. Blizzard Statistics (1959-2000): Do they show these destructive winter storms getting more frequent and stronger during the modest global warming of this period, as is typically predicted by climate alarmists for almost every type of destructive weather phenomenon on earth?

Secrets of the Mediterranean Sea ... Revealed!: Many elements - biological, climatic and even extraterrestrial - combine to produce a unique ð13C record that tells a tale of increasing biological productivity in the Mediterranean Sea.

Photosynthetic Acclimation: Is It Affected by Light Availability?: Shade-tolerant trees are often predicted to exhibit greater growth responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment than are shade-intolerant trees.  A new study investigates this concept as it applies to two important deciduous tree species.

Photosynthetic Acclimation Within Canopies of Young Aspen Trees: On a whole-tree basis, elevated CO2 typically stimulates rates of net photosynthesis.  But what happens on an individual leaf basis?  Specifically, does canopy position affect leaf responses to elevated CO2 exposure?