This weekly newsletter, focused on environmental issues, highlights relevant analysis done by the John Locke Foundation and other think tanks, as well as items in the news.
1. If you like old-growth forests–especially ponderosa pines–keep on driving that SUV and heating your house with coal
A recent study in the journal Global Change Biology has found that increased atmospheric CO2 over the last 50 years is good for old-growth forests. This seems to be because of the well-known effect of CO2 in increasing the efficiency of water use by vegetation. In other words, an atmosphere rich in CO2 allows plant life to get by on less water. Here is a summary of the study from Climate Change Reconsidered, published by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change. Reporting on the results and quoting the authors, the summary states:
In discussing their impressive findings, Knapp and Soule [the authors of the study] say they "demonstrate that old-growth ponderosa pine forests of the northern Rockies have likely benefited from the effects of increased atmospheric CO2 since the mid-20th century and that the benefits increase with tree age." … [T]hey say the "accelerated growth rates are likely caused by more efficient water use in the semiarid environment where the trees were sampled."
2. Climategate scientist admits to deleting emails at Michael Mann’s request
During the "climategate" scandal back in 2009, uncovered emails strongly suggested that Michael Mann–fabricator of the infamous and influential "hockey stick graph"–and others had deleted emails that were part of a Freedom of Information Act request by statistician and economist Steve McIntyre. Now we have direct confirmation from an interview by the NOAA Inspector General with a fellow scientist and apparently co-conspirator of Mann’s, Eugene Wahl, in which Wahl acknowledges that he deleted emails at Mann’s request. Here is an excerpt from the interview from Climate Audit.org:
Q. Did you ever receive a request by either Michael Mann or any others to delete any emails?
A. I did receive that email. That’s the last one on your list here. I did receive that…
Q. And what were the actions that you took?
A. Well, to the best of my recollection, I did delete the emails.
See this article for much more background on the story.
3. IPCC predictions vs. reality
Here a great graph that was published back in 2008 looking at the 1990 IPCC predictions of temperature trends, as compared with reality. As you can see, the actual trend from 1990 to 2007 matches the IPCC’s least dramatic prediction where temperature is not that sensitive to CO2.
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