New Material Posted on the NIPCC Web site

New Material Posted on the NIPCC Web site

Species Range Shifts in a Warming World (19 Nov 2013)
It is considerably more complex - and conservative - than models have projected. The results of this new study reveal the very real possibility that global warming could lead, not just to a geographical shifting of ranges, but to the actual expansion of the sizes of the ranges of certain tree species. And that is good news for nature!... Read More

How Close is Modeled Precipitation to Measured Precipitation? (19 Nov 2013)
According to the results of this study, not very. Precipitation remains one of the most poorly parameterized physical processes in general circulation models (GCMs), where there is difficulty in simulating such fundamental precipitation features as diurnal variation, frequency and intensity... Read More

CO2-Enriched Seawater and the Self-Righting Ability of Gastropods (19 Nov 2013)
The authors of this study conclude that “C. concholepas have the ability to maintain calcification even at pCO2 levels of 1036 µatm ... in agreement with similar results reported in the literature for other invertebrates...” And they say that “during their early ontogeny, exposure to elevated pCO2 may actually increase the likelihood of C. concholepas surviving after being overturned by an exogenous cause... Read More

The North American Regional Climate-Change Assessment Program (19 Nov 2013)
Once again, it is a clear fact that as complex and powerful as today’s GCMs and RCMs are, they are still in their infancy when it comes to trying to not only replicate, but to accurately predict real-world climate, not only in the near-term, but far into the future. For the present, the models’ reach vastly exceeds their grasp... Read More

The Increasing Water-Use Efficiencies of Temperate and Boreal Forests of the Northern Hemisphere Over the Past Two Decades (20 Nov 2013)
In considering all of the potential drivers of the observed increase, according to the authors of this work, “the only driver that is changing sufficiently and consistently through time at all sites is atmospheric CO2”... Read More

Simulating North Atlantic Extratropical Cyclones (20 Nov 2013)
The authors of this paper “inspected the ability of CMIP5 models to capture the observed behavior of the North Atlantic extratropical cyclones,” which they did by evaluating “the number, intensity and spatial distribution of North Atlantic extratropical cyclones across a wide range of climate models” by comparing their simulations “against four recent reanalyses including ERA-Interim (1980-2009).” Results of the evaluation are not comforting... Read More

Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment and Plants of Warm and Dry Regions (20 Nov 2013)
Satellite observations show that cover across these environments has increased by approximately 11% between 1982 and 2010, confirming, in the words of the authors, “that the anticipated CO2 fertilization effect is occurring alongside ongoing anthropogenic perturbations to the carbon cycle and that the fertilization effect is now a significant land surface process”...Read More