The problem with CO2 and climate change is that they are not visible. A city is visible, and easily vilified, even though spreading its citizens over the countryside would do far more damage. There is abundant evidence that global warming is a problem, but it's not easy to understand. To people who claim "the evidence is weak" I suggest talking with an experienced biogeochemist. If you're still not convinced, maybe you should become a biogeochemist and do some science to see if your views hold up. Bob
On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 1:42 AM, William Silvert <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't have the reference available, but I recall a talk from an AAAS > meeting some years ago dealing with the impacts of increased CO2 on PP. The > findings were that scurb grasses, weeds basically, responded well to > increased CO2 levels, while cereals and trees did not do as well. Perhaps > someone on the list could add more facts and details. > > In the marine ecosystem we know that increased sedimentation of carbon and > nutrients increases benthic productivity but there is a loss of biodiversity > to the point where eventually the bottom is covered with slug worms > (Capitella) and little else. Beyond this point anoxia sets in and the > bacteria take over. > > Although the overall impacts of increased CO2 are still controversial, a > lot of people seem ready to characterise any views other than their own as > nonsense. This too can be an embarassment for the rest of the science > community. > > Bill Silvert > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Hamilton" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 4:26 PM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Thank you for responding to the survey! > > > > Increased CO2 in the air, along with the resultant increased temperature > and water vapor has to increase primary productivity, as we all know from > basic principles that precipitation and temperature are the prime regulators > of primary productivity. I see increasdPPP as a good thing overall. The > catastophic predictions, the Al Gore sorts of things, are embarassing to me > as an ecologist, as the public does see me as a person supporting such > nonsense. > -- Robert J. Miller, Ph.D. Bren School of Environmental Science and Management University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93109-5131
