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Thomas R Karl

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas R Karl.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Climate (communication arising): impact of land-use change on climate.

Urbanization and other changes in land use have an impact on surface-air temperatures. Kalnay and Cai report that the observed surface-temperature trend in part of the United States exceeds the trend in the NCEP/NCAR 50-year reanalysis (NNR) and conclude that changes in land use account for the difference (0.035 degrees C per decade according to their corrected values). Although land-use change may explain some of this discrepancy, the authors do not quantify the impact of the many changes in observational practice that occurred during the analysis period. Our findings indicate that these 'non-climatic' changes have a systematic effect that overwhelms the reported difference in trends and therefore calls Kalnay and Cai's central conclusion into question.

Comment↗
PubMed2003

Modern global climate change.

Modern climate change is dominated by human influences, which are now large enough to exceed the bounds of natural variability. The main source of global climate change is human-induced changes in atmospheric composition. These perturbations primarily result from emissions associated with energy use, but on local and regional scales, urbanization and land use changes are also important. Although there has been progress in monitoring and understanding climate change, there remain many scientific, technical, and institutional impediments to precisely planning for, adapting to, and mitigating the effects of climate change. There is still considerable uncertainty about the rates of change that can be expected, but it is clear that these changes will be increasingly manifested in important and tangible ways, such as changes in extremes of temperature and precipitation, decreases in seasonal and perennial snow and ice extent, and sea level rise. Anthropogenic climate change is now likely to continue for many centuries. We are venturing into the unknown with climate, and its associated impacts could be quite disruptive.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Modified ultrafiltration postextracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Modified ultrafiltration (MUF) has been widely used for the removal of extracellular water in the immediate postcardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) period. The reported benefits of this technique are improved hematological status and hemodynamic stability post-CPB, as well as a decrease in blood utilization during the operation. MUF has also been associated with improved pulmonary status along with enhanced myocardial performance. With these benefits in mind, we have explored the possible advantages of using MUF following extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The theoretical advantages of using MUF post-ECMO are the reduction of blood use prior to removal from ECMO for optimization of hemoglobin levels, improved pulmonary compliance decreasing the duration of ventilatory support, improved myocardial function, as well as the other reported benefits described with MUF post-CPB. This report communicates the technique used to perform MUF post-ECMO, as well as a simple MUF circuit design for use in the intensive care unit setting.

Cardiopulmonary Bypass↗