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doi: 10.1007/BF02423216pmid: N/A
Belief that regional climates had significantly changed in historic times, possibly as a result of human activities, is firmly established in the Western tradition. Europe itself was believed to have undergone such changes, especially a warming trend, since ancient times. It was also widely believed that the European colonization of North America would duplicate many of the changes that had occurred in Europe, including the climatic changes that were supposed to have taken place. In the New World, it was at first believed that climatic change was occurring, as a result of human settlement and land use changes, but these views gave way to the idea of climatic stability. The first extensive compilations of reliable North American precipitation and temperature data in the latter part of the nineteenth century seemed to support the notion of stable climates. Ideas relating to macroclimatic change and stability that were entertained in America before 1900, mainly between 1770 and 1870, are examined.
doi: 10.1007/BF00136669pmid: N/A
Belief that regional climates had significantly changed in historic times, possibly as a result of human activities, is firmly established in the Western tradition. Europe itself was believed to have undergone such changes, especially a warming trend, since ancient times. It was also widely believed that the European colonization of North America would duplicate many of the changes that had occurred in Europe, including the climatic changes that were supposed to have taken place. In the New World, it was at first believed that climatic change was occurring, as a result of human settlement and land use changes, but these views gave way to the idea of climatic stability. The first extensive compilations of reliable North American precipitation and temperature data in the latter part of the nineteenth century seemed to support the notion of stable climates. Ideas relating to macroclimatic change and stability that were entertained in America before 1900, mainly between 1770 and 1870, are examined.
doi: 10.1007/BF00136670pmid: N/A
Much recent popular opinion indicates more weather records are being established now than in the past or what one would expect by chance. The theory of extremes as applied to weather records is reviewed and then compared to the actual frequency of weather records established in the United States. It is concluded that fewer extremes of temperature are being set in recent years contrary to the popular view. Precipitation records are occurring at the normal theoretically expected rate.
doi: 10.1007/BF02423217pmid: N/A
Much recent popular opinion indicates more weather records are being established now than in the past or what one would expect by chance. The theory of extremes as applied to weather records is reviewed and then compared to the actual frequency of weather records established in the United States. It is concluded that fewer extremes of temperature are being set in recent years contrary to the popular view. Precipitation records are occurring at the normal theoretically expected rate.
doi: 10.1007/BF02423218pmid: N/A
A six thousand year history of streamflow in Mesopotamia is derived from a synthesis of regional paleoenvironmental proxy data. The proxy data are interpreted with consideration to the climatic signals represented in the records and to the temporal resolution of the records. A consideration of modern synoptic climatology suggests the spatial patterns of streamflow-generating precipitation in relation to atmospheric circulation. These patterns provide a framework for the interpretation of streamflow from the regional proxies. Given the nature of the data at hand, only a low frequency signal is reconstructed. Assessment of the role of small scale climatic fluctuations as a forcing function of population dynamics must await the availability of finer resolution environmental data.
doi: 10.1007/BF00136671pmid: N/A
A six thousand year history of streamflow in Mesopotamia is derived from a synthesis of regional paleoenvironmental proxy data. The proxy data are interpreted with consideration to the climatic signals represented in the records and to the temporal resolution of the records. A consideration of modern synoptic climatology suggests the spatial patterns of streamflow-generating precipitation in relation to atmospheric circulation. These patterns provide a framework for the interpretation of streamflow from the regional proxies. Given the nature of the data at hand, only a low frequency signal is reconstructed. Assessment of the role of small scale climatic fluctuations as a forcing function of population dynamics must await the availability of finer resolution environmental data.
doi: 10.1007/BF00136672pmid: N/A
The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere should result in a general increase in the net primary productivity of most cultivated species and forest species, assuming no counterproductive climatic changes occur. The photosynthetic rate of C3 plants is most responsive to increasing concentration of CO2 in the ambient air. C4 plants demonstrate a stomatal closure that causes reduced transpiration. In the case of both types of plants, the water use efficiency (photosynthesis/transpiration) is likely to be improved.
doi: 10.1007/BF02423219pmid: N/A
The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere should result in a general increase in the net primary productivity of most cultivated species and forest species, assuming no counterproductive climatic changes occur. The photosynthetic rate of C3 plants is most responsive to increasing concentration of CO2 in the ambient air. C4 plants demonstrate a stomatal closure that causes reduced transpiration. In the case of both types of plants, the water use efficiency (photosynthesis/transpiration) is likely to be improved.
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