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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1990

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d90jan1

Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE), Part 2. Thirty papers in J. Geophys. Res., 94(D2), pp. 16,437-16,860, Nov. 30, 1989, complete the special collection begun in the Aug. 30 issue. (See GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST, PROF. PUBS./ANTARCTIC OZONE EXPERIMENT, Nov. 1989.)

Item #d90jan2

"Greenhouse Effect of Chlorofluorocarbons and Other Trace Gases," J. Hansen (NASA, Inst. Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York NY 10025), A. Lacis, M. Prather, J. Geophys. Res., 94(D13), 16,417-16,421, Nov. 20, 1989.

Compares the radiative forcing of the climate system due to changes of atmospheric chlorofluorocarbons and other trace gases. CFCs now provide about one-quarter of current annual increases in anthropogenic greenhouse climate forcing. If the growth rates of CFC production in the early 1970s had continued to the present, current annual growth of climate forcing due to CFCs would exceed that due to CO₂.

Item #d90jan3

"A Dent Outside the Hole?" G.P. Brasseur (NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307), Nature, 342(6247), 225-226, Nov. 16, 1989.

Comments on the following entry which suggests that, from August to September, a substantial amount of high-latitude ozone is also destroyed outside the Antarctic vortex by unidentified chemical processes. Reviews difficulties of making necessary observations and possible explanations of anomalies in the O3/NOy concentration ratio, which seem to coincide with the ozone depletion.

Item #d90jan4

"High-Latitude Ozone Loss Outside the Antarctic Ozone Hole," M.H. Proffitt (NOAA Aeronomy Lab., 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), D.W. Fahey et al., ibid., 233-237.

Uses data from the 1987 Antarctic Airborne Ozone Experiment to show that, from mid-August until the end of the mission in late September, there was a high-latitude ozone loss outside the Antarctic ozone hole. The geographic extent of the ozone loss was larger than that generally identified as chemically perturbed, and ozone was lost earlier in the year than previously reported. Results indicate a possible anthropogenic component for this loss.

Item #d90jan5

Special Issue: Nuclear War, Ambio, XVIII(7), 1989. Contains papers from a conference on the environmental consequences of nuclear war held in Stockholm in August 1988. Topics include: (1) the need for new policies, (2) confirmation of the consequences of nuclear war, and (3) nuclear winter and nuclear strategies. All papers included are listed below, some with annotations.

"Statement from a Conference on the Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War," 358. An international group of scientists evaluated the 1988 United Nations report on the consequences of nuclear war. A consensus of policy implications and research priorities was proposed. The latter include (1) improving the understanding of long-term climate (6 months to a few years, and atmospheric chemistry responses) and (2) developing new methods for addressing interactions between components of the global environmental system, and (3) developing scaling relationships to predict global climate change and resultant biological impacts on ecosystems.

"Atmospheric Smoke Loading from a Nuclear Attack on the United States," R.D. Small (Pacific-Sierra Res. Corp., 12340 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90025), 377-383. The smoke quantity generated depends strongly on the areas targeted, urban geography, building construction and contents and, in the case of wildland fires, on vegetation, season and weather. Smoke injection altitude information was combined with a smoke source function to illustrate the effects of an attack on the United States, and to show how these methods can be applied to construct source functions for other combatant countries.

"Some Atmospheric and Climatic Effects of Nuclear War," A.S. Ginzburg (Inst. Atmos. Phys., USSR Acad. Sci., 3 Pizhevsky pez., Moscow 109017, USSR), 384-390. Recent Soviet studies on the problems of the nuclear winter theory show that there are some partial natural analogs of the meteorological and climatic consequences associated with a nuclear blast and mass forest fires on earth. Results from a series of experimental fires help explain the phenomena of the `blue' sun and moon as seen through the layer of forest smoke, and provide some detailed information on the climatic effects of nuclear war.

"Policy Implications of Nuclear Winter and Ideas for Solutions," A. Robock, 360-366.

"The Environmental Impact of Nuclear War: Policy Implications," A.B. Pittock, 367-371.

"Policy Implications of Nuclear Winter," R. Turco, C. Sagan, 372-376.

"Synthesis of Global Fallout Hazards in a Nuclear War," R. Turco, 391-394.

"Environmental Impacts on Australia of a Nuclear War," A.B. Pittock, 395-401.

"Nuclear War Impacts on Noncombatant Societies: An Important Research Task," W. Green, 402-405.

"The New Zealand Nuclear Impacts Study," K. Cronin, W. Green, 406-410.

Item #d90jan6

"Monitoring the Greenhouse Effect from Space," B. Jasani (Royal United Services Inst., London, UK), Space Policy, 5, 94-98, May 1989.

Describes the greenhouse effect and lists satellites monitoring the atmosphere. Considers the proposed earth observation system to study long- and short-term weather and climatic changes using satellites and instruments on polar platforms. Recommends establishing an international cooperative environmental monitoring program.

Item #d90jan7

"Hydrogen Vehicles: An Evaluation of Fuel Storage, Performance, Safety, Environmental Impacts, and Cost," M.A. DeLuchi (Univ. Calif., Davis, Calif.), Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 14(2), 81-130, 1989.

A comprehensive review and analysis of hydrogen in efficient passenger vehicles. Addresses hydrogen production and distribution, on-board storage technology, refueling, vehicle performance and safety, the environmental impacts of hydrogen use, and life-cycle costs. The environmental impact analysis focuses on NOx emissions from vehicles, the impacts of making hydrogen from coal, and the contribution to the greenhouse effect of CO₂ emissions from the use of coal-based hydrogen.

Item #d90jan8

"Atmospheric CO₂: Causes, Effects, and Options," W.A. Nierenberg (Scripps Inst. Oceanog., La Jolla CA 92093), Chem. Eng. Prog., 85(6), 27-36, Aug. 1989.

Coping with global warming trends caused by atmospheric CO₂ necessitates long-term forecasting of social, economic and consumer trends. Such predictions are vital to form a viable strategy to combat the greenhouse effect.

Item #d90jan9

"Steps Towards an International Convention to Stabilize the Composition of the Atmosphere," K. Ramakrishna (Woods Hole Res. Ctr., POB 296, Woods Hole MA 02543), G.M. Woodwell, Environ. Conserv., 16(2), 163-165, Summer 1989.

To clarify the issue of how to proceed to stop global warming, fifty specialists in international policy, law and science met for a workshop at Woods Hole Research Center in September 1988. They acknowledged that two paths to success are necessary: (1) national actions which will ease the problem and often work to the nations' economic advantage, and (2) international actions which could be led by the U.N. system of leadership and would integrate efforts.

Item #d90jan10

"Targeting Climate Change," R.J. Swart (Nat. Inst. Public Health & Environ. Protec. (RIVM), the Netherlands), H. DeBoois, J. Rotmans, Intl. Environ. Affairs, 1(3), 222-234, Summer 1989.

Explores the possibilities of setting a long-term target for climate change and deriving emission control policies from this. Changes in regional ecosystems could serve as indicators of the impact of climate change. An example of a global policy model for the necessary analyses is described. Introduces the concept of "temperature increasing potential," to be used in conjunction with the concept "ozone depleting potential," to evaluate the relative impact of different gases.