date: Wed, 19 May 1999 16:30:06 -0700 from: Kiminori Itoh subject: Question:Dr.Briffa to: k.briffa@uea.ac.uk Dear Dr. Briffa; I have read your very interesting article "Seeing the Wood from the Trees" (Science, 7 May, p.926). Would you please comment on my questions below if possible? 1) Do you have any estimation on the effect of the growth promotion due to CO2? I think that many people will feel curious about the lower temperature of "the medieval optimum" in the reconstruction. 2) What do you think about the discrepancy between the reconstruction and the instrumental record in this 20 years? I think this is important because the recent high global temperatures reported so far are based on the instrumental data. It is striking to see that the recent temperature increased only moderately. I saw a similar tendency in the borehole data (Dahl-Jensen et al., Science, 9 Oct. 1998, p. 268), but thought that this was a local effect. I appreciate in advance your kindest considerations. Sincerely Yours, Kiminori Itoh, Professor, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501 Tel. +81-45-339-4354 Fax. +81-45-339-4373 E-mail: itoh@kan.ynu.ac.jp