Marine research in the Latitudinal Gradient Project along Victoria Land, Antarctica

Berkman, PA Cattaneo-Vietti, R Chiantore, M Howard-Williams, C Cummings, V Kvitek, R

SCIENTIA MARINA 69: Suppl. 2 57-63

This paper describes the conceptual framework of the Latitudinal Gradient Project that is being implemented by the New Zealand, Italian and United States Antarctic programmes along Victoria Land, Antarctica, from 72 degrees S to 86 degrees S. The purpose of this interdisciplinary research project is to assess the dynamics and coupling of marine and terrestrial ecosystems in relation to global climate variability. Preliminary data about the research cruises from the R/V “Italica” and R/V “Tangaroa” along the Victoria Land Coast in 2004 are presented. As a global climate barometer, this research along Victoria Land provides a unique framework for assessing latitudinal shifts in ‘sentinel’ environmental transition zones, where climate changes have an amplified impact on the phases of water.

sarubh:methods | /neutral/methods | 278

Fates of eroded soil organic carbon: Mississippi basin case study

Smith, SV Sleezer, RO Renwick, WH Buddemeier, R

ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 15:6 1929-1940

We have developed a mass balance analysis of organic carbon (OC) across the five major river subsystems of the Mississippi (MS) Basin (an area of 3.2 X 10(6) km(2)) This largely agricultural landscape undergoes a bulk soil erosion rate of similar to 480 t center dot km(-2)center dot yr(-1) (similar to 1500 x 10(6) t/yr, across the MS Basin), and a,soil organic carbon (SOC) erosion rate of similar to 7 t center dot km(-2 center dot)yr(-1) (similar to 22 x 10(6) t/yr). Erosion translocates upland SOC to alluvial deposits, water impoundments, and the ocean. Soil erosion is generally considered to be a net source of CO2 release to the atmosphere in global budgets. However, our results indicate that SOC erosion and relocation of soil apparently can reduce the net SOC oxidation rate of the original upland SOC while promoting neu replacement of eroded SOC in upland soils that were eroded. Soil erosion at the MS Basin scale is, therefore, a net CO2 sink rather than a source.

sarubh:methods | /neutral/methods | 298

American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous?

Leiserowitz, AA

RISK ANALYSIS 25:6 1433-1442

Public risk perceptions can fundamentally compel or constrain political, economic, and social action to address particular risks. Public support or opposition to climate policies (e.g., treaties, regulations, taxes, subsidies) will be greatly influenced by public perceptions of the risks and dangers posed by global climate change. This article describes results from a national study (2003) that examined the risk perceptions and connotative meanings of global warming in the American mind and found that Americans perceived climate change as a moderate risk that will predominantly impact geographically and temporally distant people and places. This research also identified several distinct interpretive communities, including naysayers and alarmists, with widely divergent perceptions of climate change risks. Thus, “dangerous” climate change is a concept contested not only among scientists and policymakers, but among the American public as well.

timlambert:discuss | /neutral/discuss | 289