Global warming skeptics often complain that no one is doing the science on the ground, relying too heavily on computer models. Biologists from the University of Colorado are establishing permanent monitoring spots at high altitude in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
From the article, "University of Colorado biologists began installing an alarm system atop this craggy summit Friday, near the Continental Divide west of Boulder.
Like the alarm systems in your car or home, this one is designed to detect intruders. But in this case, the invaders are tundra plants moving up from lower elevations in response to global warming. The alarm system is a cluster of mountaintop vegetation plots that will be monitored periodically for decades to come. 'They might be an early warning, an indicator of how natural systems will respond,' said ecologist William Bowman, director of CU's Mountain Research Station at Niwot Ridge, northwest of Nederland.
"To spot changes in tundra vegetation caused by warming, permanent monitoring plots are being established this summer atop three peaks within the city of Boulder watershed, along the Continental Divide. The peaks - 12,609-foot Albion, 13,150-foot Arikaree and 13,276-foot Kiowa - were selected in part because the watershed is closed to the public, so summit-area vegetation is relatively untrammeled. Sixteen one-square-meter plots will be staked out in the alpine tundra just below the summit of each peak - four in each of the four cardinal directions. Temperature and vegetation will be monitored periodically. The National Science Foundation provided $7,000 this year to install the plots near Niwot Ridge...
"Similar mountaintop plots will be set up this summer on peaks in southwestern Colorado's San Juan Mountains - possibly near Red Mountain Pass, said Chris Landry, executive director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton. The Colorado peaks will be part of an international network of long-term alpine monitoring sites called GLORIA, which stands for Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments. Established in 2001, the program has grown to more than 30 sites around the world, from the poles to the tropics."
"2008 pres"
6:53:08 AM 
|
|
). From the article, "On Monday, the Senate will begin its debate on a measure to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The bill in question would essentially override a 2001 decision by President Bush that limited funding for such research to a relatively small number of pre-existing stem cell lines - lines that critics say have proved of little use to scientists because of their age and contamination. Presdent Bush has threatened to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which rescinds the ban on federal support for embryonic stem cell research. If he does so, it would be the first veto of his presidency...
