Global Warming Impact on Forests & Woodlands

Greenhouse gas emissions have significantly altered global climate, and will continue to do so in the future. Increases in the frequency, duration, and/or severity of drought and heat stress associated with climate change could fundamentally alter the composition, structure, and biogeography of forests in many regions. Of particular concern are potential increases in tree mortality associated with climate induced physiological stress and interactions with other climate-mediated processes such as insect outbreaks and wildfire (Allen et al., 2010).

 

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Opinion Survey Regarding Climate Change

Scientists want help with an opinion survey regarding climate change

Please consider taking this internet-based survey on climate science and associated issues.   The survey has been approved by the author’s University’s ethics committee and carries no risks for participants. Completion should take less than 10 minutes and all data will be analyzed anonymously and without monitoring or identifying individual responses.

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=HKMKNF_991e2415

Climate Change Impact on Oceans & Shallow Seas

The first comprehensive synthesis on the effects of climate change on the world’s oceans has found they are now changing at a rate not seen for several million years.  According to the report by Hoegh-Guldberg & Bruno (2010): (summarized by the authors here and here)

“Concentrations of man-made greenhouse gases are driving irreversible and dramatic changes to the way the ocean functions, with potentially dire impacts for hundreds of millions of people across the planet.  The impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans include decreased ocean productivity, altered food web dynamics, reduced abundances of habitat-forming species, shifting species distributions, and a greater incidence of disease. Further change will continue to create enormous challenges and costs for societies worldwide, particularly those in developing countries.”

Climate Change Impact on Freshwater Wetlands, Lakes & Rivers

Freshwater ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services.  Wetlands exhibit extensive biodiversity, function as filters for pollutants, and are important for carbon sequestration and emissions. Rivers transport water and nutrients from the land to the oceans and provide crucial buffering capacity during droughts especially if fed by mountain springs and glaciers.  Lakes serve as sediment and carbon sinks and provide crucial repositories of information on past climate changes (USGRP, 2009).

Open Letter to Christopher Monckton

Update (July 18, 2011): Monckton told he’s not member of House of Lords. Clerk of parliaments publishes letter on Lords’ site saying peer is not and has ‘never been a member of the House of Lords’.

Dear Mr. Monckton,

I fully support Dr. John Abraham’s presentation which I found to be a very thorough debunking of your many misrepresentations.  Contrary to your own libelous accusation, I could find no point at which Dr. Abraham “told lies, knowingly and willfully misrepresenting what (you) had said.”

On the other hand, there are documented instances where you have lied and knowingly and willfully misrepresented issues of science and details of your own resume.  In addition to viewing Dr. Abraham’s presentation, I invite you to peruse Dr. Barry Bickmore’s Lord Monckton’s Rap Sheet, Dr. Arthur Smith’s catalog of your errors in the July 2008 APS article, and Realclimate.org’s Monckton’s deliberate manipulation.

Currently, the British House of Lords is investigating your false claim to have been a member and your continued use of a logo that closely resembles their Parliamentary emblem.  Please see Friends of Gin and Tonic’s The Empire Strikes back: Moncktongate – the End of a Jester?

I stand by my original blog post and I request that you immediately apologize to Dr. Abraham and to the University of St. Thomas for your shameful comments.

Sincerely,

Scott A. Mandia

Monckton Responds to My Defense of Abraham

Update (July 18, 2011): Monckton told he’s not member of House of Lords. Clerk of parliaments publishes letter on Lords’ site saying peer is not and has ‘never been a member of the House of Lords’.

Christopher Monckton, The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, sent the following email message to me in response to my blog post titled Turn the Tables on Monckton:

The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley's Message to Me

 

 

 

 

Dear Professor Mandia, – My attention has been drawn to the following weblink:

https://profmandia.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/turn-the-tables-on-monckton/

I am surprised that you express support for Professor Abraham. It may be that you have not had the opportunity to dip into my careful and detailed reply indicating that at a number of points during his presentation he told lies, knowingly and willfully misrepresenting what I had said, conveying these fanciful misrepresentations to third-party scientists, obtaining understandably negative comments from them, and then using the comments publicly against me.

I also note that you have publicly accused me of “fraud”, and have widely circulated that accusation on the internet, and have expressed the intention to invite the mass media to repeat it. Since this is a serious charge, do you have any evidence to back it up, or should I add your name to that of Professor Abraham in the libel case that will be filed shortly? – Monckton of Brenchley

The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley
Carie, Rannoch, Scotland, PH17 2QJ
+44 1882 632341; fax 632776; cell +44 7814 556423

monckton@mail.com