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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 4, NUMBER 8, AUGUST 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d91aug1

"The Potential for Ozone Depletion in the Arctic Polar Stratosphere," W.H. Brune (Dept. Meteor., Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Pk. PA 16802), J.G. Anderson et al., Science, 252(5010), 1260-1266, May 31, 1991.

Data from the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment and earlier data indicate that the Arctic polar stratosphere is similar in many respects to that of the Antarctic, where an ozone hole has been identified. Local ozone losses in the Arctic translate into 5-8% losses in the vertical column abundance of ozone. As the amount of stratospheric chlorine inevitably increases by 50% over the next two decades, ozone losses recognizable as an ozone hole may well appear.

Item #d91aug2

"New Ozone Hole Phenomenon," A.M. Thompson (NASA-GSFC, Code 916, Greenbelt MD 20771), Nature, 352(6333), 282-283, July 25, 1991.

Discusses implications of results reported in the following entry, indicating that as the stratospheric ozone hole develops during the Antarctic spring, the troposphere below also loses ozone.

Item #d91aug3

"Decrease of Summer Tropospheric Ozone Concentrations in Antarctica," R.C. Schell (CIRES, Univ. Colorado, Boulder CO 80309), Nature, 351(6329), 726-729, June 27, 1991.

The observed decrease is caused by enhanced penetration of ultraviolet radiation associated with stratospheric ozone depletion, coupled with increased transport of ozone-poor marine air from lower latitudes.

Item #d91aug4

"Efficient International Agreements for Reducing Emissions of CO₂," M. Hoel (Dept. Econ., Univ. Oslo, PB 1095 Blindern, N-0317, Oslo 3, Swed.), The Energy J., 12(2), 93-107, Apr. 1991.

Traditional agreements for emissions of greenhouse gases that rely on uniform percent reductions have two disadvantages: widespread participation is unlikely because the costs and advantages of reduction vary greatly for different countries, and such agreements are generally not efficient. However, an international CO₂ tax and tradable CO₂ quotas are two alternative schemes that are much more efficient, and properly executed could make all or most countries better off with the agreement than without.

Item #d91aug5

Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72(7), July 1991.

"The Aerial Fertilization Effect of CO₂ and Its Implications for Global Carbon Cycling and Maximum Greenhouse Warming," S.B. Idso (U.S. Water Cons. Lab., Phoenix AZ 85040), 962-965. The fertilization effect of increasing CO₂ provides a strong impetus for forest expansion, in true Gaian fashion, and it appears that the planet can adjust to rising CO₂ as long as the human processes causing it do not produce excess deleterious pollutants. However, much more work is needed on this topic, as the effects of altered patterns of disease, pests, temperature and rainfall must all be included in the final analysis.

Pp. 1009-1011: correspondence between H. Ellsaesser and S. Schneider on the influence of water-vapor feedback mechanisms on global warming.

Item #d91aug6

"Report on Reports: `Climate Change and World Agriculture,'" reviewed by V.W. Ruttan (Dept. Agric. & Appl. Econ., Univ. Minnesota, St. Paul MN 55100), Environ., 33(6), 25-29, July-Aug. 1991.

An extensive review and discussion of a study coordinated by M. Parry. The reviewer emphasizes that global climate change may have a more severe impact in developing countries and possibly in several of the formerly centrally planned economies.

Item #d91aug7

"Improving U.S. Interagency Coordination of International Environmental Policy Development," W.A. Nitze (Alliance to Save Energy, Washington, D.C.), ibid., 33(4), 10-13; 31-37, May 1991.

Interagency policymaking groups in the executive branch of the U.S. government have failed to address adequately the pressing environmental issues that have emerged. Suggestions are made for improvement, including a new cabinet-level council to integrate the foreign and domestic aspects of environmental and energy issues into U.S. policy development.

Item #d91aug8

"Alternative Transportation Fuels and Air Quality," T.Y. Chang (Ford Motor Co., Dearborn MI 48121), R.H. Hammerle et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 25(7), 1190-1197, July 1991.

Includes discussion of the global warming potential of several alternative fuels under consideration for improving urban air quality, including ethanol, hydrogen, electricity and compressed natural gas.

Item #d91aug9

"Identification of Widespread Pollution in the Southern Hemisphere Deduced from Satellite Analyses," J. Fishman (NASA-Langley, MS 401A, Hampton VA 23665), K. Fakhruzzaman et al., Science, 252(5013), 1693-1696, June 21, 1991.

Satellite-derived ozone measurements, combined with ozonesonde data, demonstrate that ozone originating from biomass burning in southern Africa is transported throughout most of the Southern Hemisphere. Observations of carbon monoxide and methane at middle- and high-latitude stations in Africa, Australia and Antarctica also likely reflect effects of biomass burning, showing that even the most remote regions on this planet may be significantly more polluted than previously believed.

Item #d91aug10

Discussion between R.C. Balling (Arizona State Univ.) and J.B. Smith (U.S. EPA) concerning the likelihood of future temperature increases in the Great Lakes region, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72(6), 833-834, June 1991.

Item #d91aug11

Special Section: "Greenhouse Gases, Sweden," Ambio, 20(3-4), May 1991.

"Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gases in Sweden: A Case Study," H. Rodhe (Dept. Meteor., Stockholm Univ., S-106 91 Stockholm, Swed.), H. Eriksson et al., 143-145. To compute the net anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ and methane, their radiative properties and atmospheric lifetimes were considered. If such factors as accumulation of carbon by Swedish forests and reduction in methane emissions by draining wetlands are included, CO₂ accounts for 40-50% of the resulting net anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ equivalents, and CFCs and N₂O become relatively more important.

"Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide in Sweden," H. Eriksson (Dept. Forest Soils, Swed. Univ. Agric. Sci., Box 7001, S-750 07 Uppsala, Swed.), 146-150. An estimate of the country's carbon budget shows that an amount equal to more than half the CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion is accumulating primarily as forest biomass. Figures are given for releases from cultivated organic soil and accumulations of peat.

"Emissions of N₂O in Sweden--Natural and Anthropogenic Sources," K. Robertson (Dept. Water/Environ., Linköping Univ., S-581 83 Linköping, Swed.), 151-155. Anthropogenic emissions have doubled since the pre-industrial era, coming primarily from stationary combustion, traffic and fertilizer use. Uncertainties in estimates are large.

"Sources and Sinks of Methane in Sweden," B.H. Svensson (Dept. Microbiol., Swed. Univ. Agric. Sci., Box 7025, S-750 07 Uppsala, Swed.), J.C. Lantsheer, H. Rodhe, 155-160. Emissions from Sweden are about 0.6% of the estimated global flux. Net flux, considering such factors as amounts taken up by forests, could be 10% lower.

Item #d91aug12

"Climate Research Review--Greenhouses from the Deep Freeze: Ice-Cores and Global Warming," M. Allen (Dept. Atmos. Phys., Univ. Oxford, UK), Energy Policy, 19(4), 405-407, May 1991.

Discusses how chemical analysis of air trapped in ice cores from the Antarctic ice sheet translates into a picture of the world's climate tens of thousands of years ago, and how causes of past climatic changes can be distinguished from their effects.

Item #d91aug13

Special issue on global warming: The Energy J., 12(1), Jan. 1991. (Energy Econ. Educational Foundation Inc., 1101 14th St. NW, Washington DC 20005).

"Introduction: Facts and Uncertainties," L.C. Cox (Lamont-Doherty Geolog. Obs., Columbia Univ., Palisades, N.Y.), 1-8.

"Formulating Greenhouse Policies in a Sea of Uncertainty," L.B. Lave (Carnegie-Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, Pa.), 9-22.

"Economic Activity and the Greenhouse Effect," Y. Ogawa (Inst. Energy Econ., Tokyo, Japan), 23-36.

"The Cost of Slowing Climate Change: A Survey," W.D. Nordhaus (Dept. Econ., Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn.), 37-66.

"Productivity Trends and the Cost of Reducing CO₂ Emissions," W.W. Hogan (Kennedy Sch. Govt., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.), D.W. Jorgenson, 67-86.

"Global CO₂ Emission Reductions: The Impacts of Rising Energy Costs," A.S. Manne (Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif.), R.G. Richels, 87-108.

"Cutting CO₂ Emissions: The Effects of Alternative Policy Approaches," J. Whalley (Dept. Econ., Univ. Western Ontario), R. Wigle, 109-125.

"EPA's Scenarios for Future Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming," D.A. Lashof (Nat. Resour. Defense Council, Washington, D.C.), 125-147.

"The Greenhouse Effect: A View from Europe," D. Pearce (London Environ. Econ. Ctr., London), E. Barbier, 147-160.

"CO₂ Emissions from Major Developing Countries: Better Understanding the Role of Energy in the Long Term," J. Sathaye (Intl. Energy Studies Grp., Lawrence Berkeley Lab., Univ. California, Berkeley, Calif.), A. Ketoff, 161-196.