Development of a Faraday cup fast ion loss detector for keV beam ions.

The development and testing of a Faraday cup fast-ion loss detector capable of measuring sub 100 keV particles is documented. Such measurement capabilities play an important role in the assessment of particle confinement of nuclear fusion experiments. The detector is manufactured using thin-film deposition techniques, building upon previous work using discrete foils. This new manufacturing method allows the form factor of the sensor to become that of essentially a microchip. Analysis of the diagnostic response is performed using Monte-Carlo particle simulations. These simulations show peaks in the detector response at 40 and 70 keV. The sensor is then tested in a tunable linear accelerator capable of accelerating protons from 20 to 120 keV. The detector response was found to be well matched to simulations. Improvements to the design to facilitate robustness are discussed.

Climate change and forests.

Factors governing long-term change in global temperature are reviewed. The magnitude and rate of change in global temperature resulting from current increases in the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases are considered in relation to their impact on forests. Movement in forest zone boundaries at a rate of 2.5 km year(-1) are possible, which is nearly ten times the rate forests have been known to move by natural reproduction. Climate models indicate that increased global temperature will affect rainfall distribution, lead to more frequent and more severe storms and increase climatic variability. Consequences for the world's forests include increased frequencies of fire and blow-down, and wide-spread decline. Increased atmospheric CO(2) concentrations may increase forest growth where the effect is not offset by reduced precipitation, but the overall effect of anticipated changes in global climate is likely to be widespread loss of forests.