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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 11, NOVEMBER 1991

NEWS...
RESEARCH NEWS

Item #d91nov113

Declining Amphibian Populations worldwide were the subject of a workshop sponsored by the National Research Council (Irvine, Calif., Feb. 1990), reported by D.B. Wake on p. 860 of Science, Aug. 23, 1991. Although increased levels of ultraviolet radiation and global climate change are among a host of possible factors involved, little is known about the declines.

Item #d91nov114

"Seabed Molecule Mirrors Climate Change," J. Johnson, New Scientist, p. 22, Oct. 12, 1991. Changes in the bonding of a single molecule in marine sediments mirror closely changes in the surface temperature of the sea. This suggests a powerful way to trace past changes in climate.

Item #d91nov115

"U.S. Adopts Global Climate Change Data Information Policy," Global Environ. Change Rep., p. 4, Oct. 18, 1991. The Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences has endorsed seven principles on data management for the 18 agencies it represents. They include open sharing of data and providing assistance for those outside the government who wish to use data--points that respond to recent objections from some scientists.

Item #d91nov116

"Atmospheric CO Estimates May Be Low," Eos, p. 338, Aug. 6, 1991. Comparison of world reference standards for making CO measurements shows that some previous measurements are in error. (See Novelli et al., Prof. Pubs./Of General Interest, this Global Climate Change Digest issue--Nov. 1991.)

Item #d91nov117

"National Workshop on Gas Hydrates," M.D. Max et al., Eos, pp. 476-477, Oct. 29, 1991. Much of the discussion at the April 1991 conference in Reston, Virginia, centered around the immense amount of methane stored as hydrates in deep ocean sediments and underground. This could form an important source of methane in the atmosphere if any were to be released by global warming or other mechanisms.

Item #d91nov118

"Hydroxyl, the Cleanser That Thrives on Dirt," R.A. Kerr, Science, pp. 1210-1211, Sep. 13, 1991. During their brief lifetimes of about a second, hydroxyl radicals oxidize and eliminate from the atmosphere a number of pollutants. However, some scientists suspect hydroxyl is less abundant now than before the industrial era began; recent computer modeling suggests that since the year 1700 hydroxyl has decreased by as much as 20 percent. Reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions could tend to reduce hydroxyl levels, as would increasing ultraviolet radiation.