Discussion

17 January 2009

Almost two years after the biotic pump paper was published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS), a very critical comment by three well-positioned scientists has just been published in HESS Discussions. See here for the unfolding discussion. Every member of the scientific community registered at www.cosis.net can take part in the discussion and make citable comments that are published in a separate HESSD volume.
 
From the critique: "M&G are to be complimented for their valiant attempt to shed more light on the interaction between forest vegetation and precipitation. However, a good understanding of these phenomena should be based on well-founded scientific principles, and not on the kind of ill-conceived ideas which this commentary has shown to be physically untenable."
 
From our first response: "We find the commentary made by Dr. Meesters, Dr. Dolman and Dr. Bruijnzeel (hereafter MDB) to be most instructive and illustrative. Although, as we argue below, the critique of our results is based on several key physical misunderstandings of atmospheric processes, we believe that publishing this commentary in HESS would be of substantial methodological value, as such misunderstandings, expressed by well-positioned scientists, can be justifiably characterized as widespread. Publication of this commentary will further contribute to the widening discussion of the biotic pump theory and its implications (Chown and Gaston, 2008; Makarieva, Gorshkov and Li, 2008; Sheil and Muridyaso, 2009), the importance of which is not disputed by anybody, including MDB."

What do YOU have to say?
(The discussion is open until March 13th, 2009)

30 September 2008

Makarieva A.M., Gorshkov V.G., Li B.-L. (2008) On the validity of representing hurricanes as Carnot heat engine. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 8, 17423-17437. PDF (0.4 Mb). Print version (0.4 Mb).
Interactive discussion (open until 14 November 2008).

Abstract

It is argued, on the basis of detailed critique of published literature, that the existing thermodynamic theory of hurricanes, where it is assumed that the hurricane power is formed due to heat input from the ocean, is not physically consistent, as it comes in conflict with the first and second laws of thermodynamics. A quantitative perspective of describing hurricane energetics as that of an adiabatic atmospheric process occurring at the expense of condensation of water vapor that creates drop of local air pressure, is outlined.

Preparing for discussion

14 February 2008

The biotic pump idea was first put forward in the end of 2005. Since that time many interesting comments and questions became available. Comprehensive discussion was hosted on the pages of the Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions journal of the European Geosciences Union, where the biotic pump was first published and where it became one of the most commented papers. Some comments were made informally to the authors and some are anonymous.

An overview of all the reactions is presented here. It will move to this web site in the near future. Note that the Russian version of this section is not a translation of the English version. Instead, it publicizes our correspondence (in Russian) with the Editorial Boards of the Russian journals "Water Resources" and "Physics of the Atmosphere and Ocean", including anonymous reviews and our responses to them.

This site is aimed to facilitate access to publications on biotic regulation, to illustrate quantitatively the urgent necessity of conserving natural ecosystems on a globally significant scale, and to stimulate thoughtful discussion of relevant issues. © 2001-2010, V.G. Gorshkov, A.M. Makarieva.