Thanks for your efforts? Nahhh.

I have some publications on my desk at my other job I’ll post up when I get back. I enjoy the discussion. =)

Conversely, the CTFS data used in the Harvard studies looks at actual tropical rainforest growth over decades, so it documents what is really happening as CO2 concentrations rise. And the growth of the rainforests studied by the Harvard researchers has undeniably slowed.

To explain why increased rainfall and warmer temperatures could slow the growth of plants – just because a plant species grows well with a certain amount of water and at a certain temperature, doesn’t mean it will do well when it gets more water (and less sunlight) and the temperature gets hotter. It’s like saying that if food is good for you, then the more you eat the healthier you will be. Or saying that if my gardenias do well in part sun/part shade, they will do better in full sun (not true! don’t try this at home).

Regarding your final point about why fresh water will be scarce if climate change causes more rainfall: Climate change won’t cause more rainfall all over the world. Current models suggest that in general, wet places will get wetter and dry places will get drier. Another issue is that as ice cap areas melt, sea levels will rise, and salt water will encroach upon low-lying areas and contaminate fresh water sources.

I do appreciate your sharing some actual research with us – it helps to have a nice healthy dialogue.

For the record, I do believe we need to pollute less, but I believe we need to define ‘pollution’ properly. I don’t believe CO2 is a pollutant, and our focus on it instead of real toxins to plants and animals is counter productive. From what I understand plants are more succeptable to the pH of the rainfall and petrochemical pollution than pH or a few degrees change. I don’t understand the argument that increased rainfall and warmer night temperatures are bad for plants when some of the most dense forests/jungles in the world are in the hottest wettests places on earth.

A few quickies…
http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA334.html
http://homeharvest.com/carbondioxideenrichment.htm
http://pages.unibas.ch/botschoen/elevated_co2/index.shtml

They’ve also done some work to show that plants do better in low light situation when CO2 concentrations are higher… example…
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/abstract/114/1/337

Also, if increased CO2 concentrations are causing more rainfall, then why the global warming / fresh water concern?

The Harvard researchers found that while increases in atmospheric CO2 provide fertilizer that can stimulate growth by aiding photosynthesis, the number of rainy days had increased at both sites over the period of the study, meaning that less sunlight was available to fuel photosynthesis. In addition, nighttime temperatures had increased, and higher temperatures mean higher respiration rates. With more energy going out than coming in, trees have less energy for growth, as appears to have happened in these two forests. More rain (i.e., less sunlight) and higher temperatures in tropical regions are two expected consequences of climate change, which is spurred on by the rise of greenhouse gases like CO2 in the atmosphere.

You can read more about this research and other related studies here: http://harvardmagazine.com/2007/09/p-sinking-carbon-sink-hope.html.

one aspect of sustainability that probably no one in the US takes much time to think about is the sustainability of Fiji’s developing economy and the cultural sustainability that needs to be addressed. everyone’s so busy jumping down Fiji Water’s throats for their environmental problems, they probably haven’t done a lot to consider the human side of the equation (hardcore environmentalists often could care less about humans, i’ve found).
Fiji has suffered from and continues to suffers under a series of unstable governments, race tensions between indigenous people and indians who were brought in under colonial rule, urban drift, a younger generation that does not understand or know their traditions, and brain-drain of its best and brightest to Australia and New Zealand. i know all this because i’ve lived and worked here on volunteer missions for a number of years now.
I have to say, no one in Fiji is complaining about Fiji Water. They are all clamoring to work there. They pay their workers the best wage in the country, give them all sorts of benefits, have a foundation that serves health and educational outreach throughout the country. they’re also a great example of a successful, classy, world-reknowned company emerging from a developing nation that does NOT engage in exploitative activities.

For this reason I completely DISAGREE with Mason’s comment above. If you stopped producing this product tomorrow there would be 500 more people living in poverty in Fiji and there would be so much humanitarian and economic possibility left undone, so much wasted potential. for a moment, Americans, just imagine what a success story this little bottled water is to the people of Fiji. they see its placement in movies and on TV and they are filled with pride. Allow a tiny 3rd world nation to have a bit of success and go after China for a change.

Sustainability takes bigger thinking than manufacturing disposable bottles and then recycling them. Sustainability takes bigger thinking than generating greenhouse gases, then buying carbon offsets. Sustainability takes thinking about shifting markets away from products (read: problems) that are in search of a solution — it takes shifting markets toward products that actually improve our environment, our health and our habits at large.

I’m sorry Fiji, bottled water will never be such a “commodity,” nor should water be a commodity to begin with.