"Michael Mcneil" wrote in message
news:5e4a205632396ea6adfe0be599b6c4b2.45219@mygate .mailgate.org...

I taped the OU programmes from last night; running back quickly through
them just now, I came across this little gem:

There is apparently, a planet wide lack of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere according to one ecologist on the last programme "The Big
Picture".

Talking about satellite analysis: different spectra of different
seasons, overlain, show that plant growth seems to be inhibited by the
lack of CO2 in their growing seasons. This is especially marked in the
tropics.

However the tropical models are already at a maximum due to all the
available sunlight being used. The most substantial increase in growth
appears to be along the forested regions of the northern hemisphere.

More northerly climes are inhibited by the cold.

In the Sahel, where a higher concentration of carbon dioxide would help
faster growth -and the accompanying better water retention/recycling;
there is a striking benefit in greater concentrations of CO2 in the
models shown.

Maunaloa CO2 data..

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/maunaloa.co2

Shows an increse of the annual variability, a fall during the N hemisphere
summer, along with the general rise in conc.
Works out at 0.014 ppm per year, doesn't sound much, but if it's due to
increase in plant biomass, then its an awful lot of extra plants each year.
Hello Carboniferous.