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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 5, NUMBER 4, APRIL 1992

NEWS...
RESEARCH NEWS

Item #d92apr112

The role of methane in global warming remains poorly understood, according to an article in Chem. Eng. News (pp. 26-28, Feb. 10, 1992) summarizing a January 1992 conference on atmospheric methane and other gases, held in Huntington Beach, Calif. Recent information on the global cycles of CO₂, oxygen and N₂O are also discussed. An article in Nature by Lelieveld and Crutzen (see Prof. Pubs/Gen. Interest--Science, this GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST Issue--Apr. 1992.) argues that the climatic effects of methane have been overestimated in previous IPCC analyses.

Item #d92apr113

Methane Plumes Investigated: A joint U.S.-Russian field experiment will attempt to confirm that massive plumes periodically observed rising out of ice in the East Siberian Sea during the past 15 years contain methane gas. Air samples will be acquired by aircraft, to test suspicions that the plumes are the result of melting and vaporizing of methane hydrates in the sea floor.

Item #d92apr114

CFC Warming Offset: In the February 27, 1992, issue of Nature, Ramaswamy and Schwarzkopf present model results showing how greenhouse warming by CFCs is roughly offset by the ozone depletion they cause. An article by Kiehl in the same issue explains that it is not all that simple. (See Prof. Pubs./Gen. Int.--Science, this GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST issue--Apr. 1992.)

Item #d92apr115

"Hole in the Sky Stunts Antarctic Plankton," S. Pain, New Scientist, p. 20, Feb. 29, 1992. Discusses a recent Science article by Smith et al. on how the Antarctic ecosystem could be altered by increased ultraviolet radiation under the ozone hole. (See Prof. Pubs./Gen. Int.--Science, this GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST issue--Apr. 1992).

Item #d92apr116

"Chemistry to Play Greater Role in Activities of Global Environment Group," D. A. O'Sullivan, Chem. Eng. News, pp. 19-22, Mar. 9, 1992. A lengthy discussion of trends in the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), which has been in the forefront of several issues over the years, including nuclear winter and climate change.