[MCN] 2 key reports for forest-watchers: I've got the pdf of each

[Lance Olsen]

Seeing it coming in 2010: (emphasis added)

"Š studies compiled here suggest that at least 
some of the world's forested ecosystems already 
may be responding to climate change and raise 
concern that forests may become increasingly 
vulnerable to higher background tree mortality 
rates and die-off in response to future warming 
and drought,
even in environments that are not normally 
considered water-limited. Š. Overall, our review 
reveals the potential for amplified tree 
mortality due to drought and heat in forests 
worldwide."

Craig D. Allen, Alison K. Macalady, Haroun 
Chenchouni, Dominique Bachelet et al.  A global 
overview of drought and heat-induced tree 
mortality reveals emerging climate change risks 
for forests. Forest Ecology and Management 259 
(2010) 660-684   doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001

Reporting its arrival in 2015: (emphasis added)

"Our results are quite striking. First, temporal 
increases of climate change-associated mortality 
do not occur only in regions with temporal water 
deficit increases, but also in areas without 
temporal water deficit increases. Given that 
temporal water deficit increases are not a global 
phenomenon (Sheffield et al. 2012; Dai 2013), our 
results call for more studies to examine the 
impacts of recent climate changes on forest 
dynamics beyond those regions with temporal water 
deficit increases (Breshears et al. 2005, 2009; 
van Mantgem et al. 2009; Michaelian et al. 2011; 
Peng et al. 2011; Luo & Chen 2013; Williams et 
al. 2013). Second, our results reveal that 
climate change may intensify the effects of 
conspecific competition, while reducing the 
effects of interspecific competition on tree 
mortality for shade-intolerant tree species. If 
water availability does not change in these 
forests, although some projections suggest it may 
(Cook et al. 2014), this could potentially lead 
to a positive effect on species coexistence, 
since higher conspecific competition, rather than 
interspecific competition, constitutes a primary 
mechanism for species coexistence in forest 
ecosystems (Condit et al. 2006; Comita et al. 
2010). However, the temporal increases in both 
mortality and growth could lead to faster carbon 
pool turnover and less carbon storage in the 
boreal forests, as indicated in tropical forests 
(Brienen et al. 2015)."
LETTER
Yong Luo and Han Y. H. Chen. Climate 
change-associated tree mortality increases 
without decreasing water availability. Ecology 
Letters, (2015)	doi: 10.1111/ele.12500
-- 
===========================================================
"We have only one planet and the time has come to 
transform our present lifestyle and consumption 
patterns in order to halt the degradation of the 
Earth's natural capital ..."

From the Executive Summary, WWF:  China 
Ecological Footprint: Report 2012 : Consumption, 
production, and sustainability.

============================================================
"Š energy consumption in 1960 was about half what 
it is now [i.e., 1970] Š. Surely we had a 
civilized country then, with roads, electricity, 
entertainment, and so on. Š. Have we, by doubling 
our energy consumption, doubled our happiness?"

Kimon Valaskakis, Peter S. Sindell, J. Graham 
Smith, and Iris Fitzpatrick-Martin. The Conserver 
Society. 1970. Harper & Row.

=============================================================
"The most painful and expensive way to deal with 
global climate change will be to ignore it until 
something happens that elicits powerful public 
demands for immediate and Draconian action."

Jonathan Lash.  "As the earth heats up. "  Journal of Commerce August 16, 1996.






















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