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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 12, DECEMBER 1992

PERIODICALS...
GENERAL, POLICY AND LAW

Item #d92dec111

"Global Warming on Trial," W.S. Broecker, Natural History, 6-14, Apr. 1992.

Sets up a mock trial to review the evidence for and against impending global warming. Considers anecdotal historical records (like notes of sea-ice coverage in the 1600s near Iceland) and data collected in the 20th century (such as concentrations of oxygen isotopes in ice cores). Finds the evidence inconclusive, and calls for greater attention to a possibly more serious problem--world population growth.

Item #d92dec112

New publication: World Climate Review, edited by P.J. Michaels, Dept. Environ. Sci., Univ. Virginia. Intended to provide insight and counter popular misconceptions on the global warming and ozone depletion controversies by discussing, for general readers, scientific information from the refereed literature and conferences. Each issue will include feature articles, a digest of several recent scientific publications, and a section which tracks recent global temperature measurements and compares results to those forecast by comprehensive computer models. Published quarterly by, and available at no charge for the first year of publication from, Western Fuels Assoc., Magruder Bldg., 1625 M St. NW, Washington DC 20036 (202-463-6580).

Articles in the premier issue (Fall 1992, 24 pp.) discuss the natural greenhouse effect and how any human enhancement of it is expected to have relatively benign effects (at night at high latitudes), and misconceptions involving global warming and hurricanes. An editorial criticizes the current lack of journalistic scrutiny of potentially sensational science news.

Item #d92dec113

Two items from Our Planet (UNEP, POB 30552, Nairobi, Kenya), No. 4, 1992:

"Saving Our Ozone Shield," B. Lacoste, 4-7. Previews the Nov. 1992 meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol, and the reasons for the expected outcome.

"UNEP after Rio," D. Boyd, 8-11. Discusses UNEP's role in the process begun by The Earth Summit, and the principles contained in Agenda 21.

Item #d92dec114

"The Earth Summit: A Reasoned Response to Rio," 8 pp., 1992. A special report from Coal Voice (Nat. Coal Assoc., 1130 17th St. NW, Washington DC 20036), containing three articles: "Rio in Retrospective," 2-5; "Climate Change Close-Up" (a synopsis of the framework climate convention), 5-6; "The Road Ahead," 7.

Item #d92dec115

"Blueprint for the Future," K. Courrier, Issues Sci. Technol., 94-98, Summer 1992. An article-length review of Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, by Sen. Al Gore (pub. by Houghton Mifflin, 1992).

Item #d92dec116

"A Global Forestry Initiative," R.A. Sedjo, Resources (Resources for the Future, 1616 P St. NW, Washington DC 20036), 16-20, Fall 1992.

Elaborates on a possible global system of tradable forest management obligations, proposed by researchers at RFF and modeled on the U.S. proposal of tradable emission permits. This system could emerge from the "Forests for the Future" initiative proposed by the Bush Administration at the Earth Summit.

Item #d92dec117

"The Failure of International Environmental Law," P. Taylor, Our Planet, No. 3, 14-15, 1992.

Discusses how this failure lies in the law's inability to recognize the global environment as opposed to those parts of the planet within national boundaries. Uses the greenhouse effect and other current environmental issues as illustrations, and proposes several solutions.

Item #d92dec118

Enviro--Magazine of Transboundary Pollution (Swed. Environ. Protect. Agency (SNV), S-171 85 Solna, Swed.), May 1992. No charge.

Contains five articles relating to global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion. "Renewable Energy Could Stop the Greenhouse Effect," J. Busch, 14-15. "Western Europe Could Reduce CO₂ Emissions by a Third," J. Busch, 18-21. "Renewable Energy Economically Viable," J. Busch, 21 (comments from T.B. Johansson, Sweden's leading expert on energy systems analysis). "CFC Substitutes May Delay Recovery of Ozone," H. Thornblad, 22-23 (discusses the ozone depletion potentials of HCFCs and a March workshop in Stockholm). "Doubts on Early HCFC Phase-Out," H. Thornblad, 24-25 (also reports on the Stockholm workshop; discusses national policies about HCFCs and substitutes for HCFCs).