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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 5, MAY 1992

NEWS...
NEWS NOTES

Item #d92may117

Alternative energy future: A major study released by three U.S. energy associations concludes that substantial emissions reductions and increased employment in the U.S. energy industry can be achieved, without federal intervention in the marketplace. (See An Alternative Energy Future, Reports/Emission Reduction Analyses, this GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST issue--May 1992.)

Item #d92may118

GATT agreement: As the Uruguay round of negotiations on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade nears an end, U.S. environmentalists are concerned that the draft agreement will undermine American laws on environmental protection, or even international agreements such as the Montreal Protocol. (See World Watch article in Periodicals/General Interest, this GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIGEST issue--May 1992; New Scientist, p. 16, Feb. 15; Global Environ. Change Rep., p. 4, Feb. 14; Chem. & Indus., p. 125, Feb. 17.)

Item #d92may119

"How Much Green in the Greenhouse?" C. Anderson, Nature, p. 369, Apr. 2, 1992. The uncertainty over greenhouse warming has prompted several outspoken scientists on both sides of the issue to join the lecture circuit, where they are willing to go beyond the usual caution of science into outright advocacy. The lecture earnings of Patrick Michaels, Robert Balling, Stephen Schneider and Michael Oppenheimer are discussed, and how such vocal advocates affect the press.

Item #d92may120

"Maryland Adopts `Feebates' for Automobiles," Global Environ. Change Rep., p. 4, Apr. 24, 1992. Maryland became the first state to adopt a "feebate" system to encourage fuel-efficient automobiles, pending expected approval by its governor. A flat surcharge of $100 will be imposed on cars that get less than 21 miles per gallon, and a credit given for those exceeding 35 mpg.

Item #d92may121

"Grain Yields Tumble in Greenhouse World," F. Pearce, New Scientist, p. 4, Apr. 18, 1992. An analysis by Martin Parry of the likely impact of global warming, prepared for the U.N. IPCC, envisions a decline of 10-15 percent in grain yields in Africa, tropical Latin America and much of India and Southeast Asia. Another study by Norman Myers predicts that rising sea levels and declining farm yields could turn more than 300 million people into "environmental refugees."

Item #d92may122

"New Studies Predict Profits in Heading Off Warming," W.K. Stevens, New York Times, pp. C1, C9, Mar. 17, 1992. Discusses several recent studies showing that CO₂ emissions can be stabilized or reduced at negative cost, and a recent conference on the topic held at the Smithsonian Institution.

Item #d92may123

"Acoustic Fridge Sounds Good for the Ozone Layer," D. Clery, New Scientist, p. 21, Apr. 4, 1992. A new refrigeration system developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, that uses sound instead of a piston and CFCs, and also uses 40-percent less energy.

Item #d92may124

"Nation Launches Ozone Program to Alert Public to UV Health Risks," Intl. Environ. Rptr., p. 165, Mar. 25, 1992. Environment Canada will issue weekly Ozone Watch bulletins over media outlets to keep the public informed of the risk of exposure to excessive ultraviolet radiation.

Item #d92may125

"UNEP Adopts Plan to Expand Role of Economists in Environmental Issues," ibid., pp. 125-126, Mar. 11, 1992. The plan was agreed upon in Nairobi at a February meeting of economists, scholars and governmental representatives.

Item #d92may126

"US Military Fails to Go Green," New Scientist, p. 15, Feb. 1, 1992. An attempt launched with fanfare 18 months ago to involve the U.S. military in environmental research has stalled amid bureaucratic indecision in the Pentagon.

Item #d92may127

"IMAGE: Modeling the Greenhouse Effect," R. Shaw et al., IIASA Options, pp. 16-17, Dec. 1991. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), in collaboration with the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and Protection (RIVM), has been developing a simplified, policy-oriented model for assessing climate change. The model runs climate change scenarios on a personal computer in minutes or hours, and is intended to complement the use of full climate models, which run for days.