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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 7, JULY 1992

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
GENERAL INTEREST--SCIENCE

Item #d92jul9

"The Oxidizing Capacity of the Earth's Atmosphere: Probable Past and Future Changes," A.M. Thompson (Lab. Atmospheres, NASA-Goddard, Greenbelt MD 20771), Science, 256(5060), 1157-1164, May 22, 1992.

Concentrations of the principal oxidants in the lower atmosphere--ozone, hydroxyl radical (OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)--are important for a number of critical atmospheric chemical problems. There is limited direct evidence for changes in the atmosphere's oxidizing capacity since recent preindustrial times. Models predict that tropospheric ozone will increase 0.3% to 1% per year over the next 50 years, with both positive and negative trends possible for OH and H2O2.

Item #d92jul10

"Effects of Aerosol from Biomass Burning on the Global Radiation Budget," J.E. Penner, R.E. Dickinson (Inst. Atmos. Phys., Univ. Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721), C.A. O'Neill, Science, 256(5062), 1432-1434, June 5, 1992.

Biomass smoke particles reflect solar radiation directly, but also act as cloud condensation nuclei, increasing reflectivity. The cooling resulting from both effects may be comparable to the estimated cooling of sulfate aerosols. Anthropogenic increases in smoke may have helped weaken greenhouse warming caused by anthropogenic trace gases.

Item #d92jul11

"The U.S. Department of Energy and the People's Republic of China's Academy of Sciences Joint Research on the Greenhouse Effect: 1985-1991 Research Progress," M.R. Riches (Environ. Sci., Off. Health & Environ., U.S. Dept. Energy, Washington DC 20585), Z. Jianping et al., Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 73(5), 585-594, May 1992.

Summarizes work that has led to over 120 publications in four areas: analysis of GCMs, preparation of proxy and instrumental data, the relationship between large- and regional-scale climate, and emissions from rice paddies.

Item #d92jul12

"Airborne Studies of the Smoke from the Kuwait Oil Fires," P.V. Hobbs (Dept. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Washington, AK-40, Seattle WA 98195), L.F. Radke, Science, 256(5059), 987-992, May 15, 1992. Measurements show that the smoke probably had insignificant global effects for several reasons.

Item #d92jul13

Three items from Nature, 356(6372), Apr. 30, 1992:

"Deep Ocean Circulation Puzzle," R. Zahn (GEOMAR, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 2300 Kiel 14, Ger.), 744-746. Explains why results of sediment core studies reported in the following two papers require revision of notions of the influence of deep ocean circulation on climate, particularly the triggering of rapid changes.

"Sudden Changes in North Atlantic Circulation during the Last Deglaciation," S.J. Lehman (Woods Hole Oceanog. Inst., Woods Hole MA 02543), L.D. Keigwin, 757-762.

Sudden changes in the flow of warm Atlantic surface water into the Norwegian Sea occurred frequently during the last deglaciation, leading to large and rapid (decade-scale) changes in atmospheric temperatures, and to shifts in Atlantic deep thermohaline circulation and ice-sheet melting rates.

"Water Mass Exchange between the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea during the Past 28,000 Years," T. Veum, E. Jansen (Dept. Geol., Univ. Bergen, Allégaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway) et al., 783-785. Carbon and oxygen isotope data show that observed rapid changes in the thermohaline circulation could not have caused the onset of warming during the termination of the Last Glacial Maximum, nor can they account for the transient return to cooler climate during the Younger Dryas.

Item #d92jul14

"Natural versus Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Low-Level Cloud Albedo over the North Atlantic," P.G. Falkowski (Oceanog. Sci. Div., Brookhaven Nat. Lab., Upton NY 11973), Y. Kim et al., Science, 256(5061), 1311 ff., May 29, 1992.

Comparison of two independent satellite data sets shows that over the central North Atlantic, variability in cloud albedo can be largely accounted for by natural processes, although anthropogenic sulfate emissions may enhance albedo near the east coast of the U.S.

Item #d92jul15

"Climate-Driven pH Control of Remote Alpine Lakes and Effects of Acid Deposition," R. Psenner (Inst. Zool., Univ. Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria), Nature, 356(6372), 781-783, Apr. 30, 1992.

Paleolimnological data from the nineteenth century shows that lake acidity in the Alps was inversely correlated with regional temperature before the influence of anthropogenic acidic deposition. It is an open question whether the leveling off that has been observed recently in lake pH decline is due to rising temperatures or to decreasing precipitation acidity.

Item #d92jul16

"Ozone Response to a CO₂ Doubling: Results from a Stratospheric Circulation Model with Heterogeneous Chemistry," G. Pitari (Dip. Fis., Univ. degli Studi-L'Aquila, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy), S. Palermi, G. Visconti, J. Geophys. Res., 97(D5), 5953-5962, Apr. 20, 1992.

A model including polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) mechanisms was used to investigate the possibility that lower stratospheric cooling expected from greenhouse warming could enhance PSC formation and ozone destruction. Results support this possibility.

Item #d92jul17

"The Chemical Mechanisms behind Ozone Depletion," I. Folkins (NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307), G. Brasseur, Chem. & Industry, pp. 294-297, Apr. 20, 1992. Reviews chemical reactions as well as the broader context of ozone destruction, based on work through early 1992.

Item #d92jul18

"Environmental Information from Ice Cores," R.J. Delmas (Lab. Glaciol., St. Martin d'Hères, France), Rev. Geophys., 30(1), 1-21, Feb. 1992.

Reviews techniques for determining atmospheric parameters from ice cores, essential for understanding preindustrial conditions so that we can anticipate future changes. During the ice ages, atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄ contents were lower, sea salt and crustal dust was higher, and the biogeochemical cycles of S and N were altered.

Item #d92jul19

"Global Warming," M. Hulme (Clim. Res. Unit, Univ. E. Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK), Prog. Phys. Geog., 15(3), 310-318, 1991.

The first of three annual reports, this gives an overview of research (generally not covered in the first IPCC report) concerning the date of doubling of CO₂-equivalent concentration, global climate sensitivity, and regional climate sensitivity.