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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 6, NUMBER 7-8, JULY-AUGUST 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
GENERAL INTEREST-SCIENCE

Item #d93jul12

"Global Surface Air Temperature Variations during the Twentieth Century," The Holocene.

"Part 1. Spatial, Temporal and Seasonal Details," P.D. Jones (Clim. Res., Univ. E. Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK), K.R. Briffa, 2(2), 165-179, 1992. A detailed review of uncertainties inherent in the instrumental record over the last 140 years, particularly the need to adjust early sea surface temperature data to account for changes in the measurement method. Concludes the world has warmed by about 0.5·C since the nineteenth century.

"Part 2. Implications for Large-Scale, High-Frequency Palaeoclimatic Studies," K.R. Briffa (address immed. above), P.D. Jones, 3(1), 77-88, 1993. Traditional inferences on global mean temperature change based on regional proxies around the margins of the North Atlantic must be viewed with some caution, because information on temperature change over the oceans, particularly in the tropics, is necessary for accurately portraying global mean change. The seasonality of response is important when integrating evidence from different climate proxies; inferring annual temperature change on the basis of summer-responsive data is highly questionable.

Item #d93jul13

"A New Perspective on Recent Global Warming: Asymmetric Trends of Daily Maximum and Minimum Temperature," T.R. Karl (NCDC-NOAA, Fed. Bldg., Asheville NC 28801), P.D. Jones et al., Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 74(6), 1007-1023, June 1993.

Analysis of a recently augmented data set covering over 37% of the global landmass shows that, from 1951 to 1990, the rise of the daily minimum temperature has occurred at a rate three times that of the maximum temperature. Although links to large-scale climate forcings such as sulfate aerosols, greenhouse gases or biomass burning remain tentative, the result is clearly important both scientifically and practically.

Item #d93jul14

"Anthropo-generated Climate Change in Europe," R.C. Balling Jr. (Dept. Geog., Arizona State Univ., Tempe AZ 85287), S.B. Idso, Environ. Conserv., 19(4), 349-353, Winter 1992.

European temperature and precipitation data show trends observed in previous studies of the authors for the U.S. and British Isles: precipitation begins to increase at about the time that Northern Hemispheric SO2 emissions begin their rapid rise, while prior upward trends of surface air temperature are abruptly truncated. These and other observations support the premise that anthropogenic climate change is occurring in Europe, but it may well be SO2-induced rather than CO₂-induced.

Item #d93jul15

"In situ Measurements Constraining the Role of Sulphate Aerosols in Mid-Latitude Ozone Depletion," D.W. Fahey (Aeron. Lab., NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), S.R. Kawa et al., Nature, 363(6429), 509-514, June 10, 1993.

Measurements of stratospheric sulfate aerosol, reactive nitrogen and chlorine concentrations at middle latitudes confirm the importance of aerosol surface reactions that convert active nitrogen to a less active, reservoir form, making mid-latitude stratospheric ozone less vulnerable to active nitrogen and more vulnerable to chlorine species. Increases in aerosol concentration following volcanic eruptions will have only a limited effect on ozone depletion at these latitudes.

Item #d93jul16

"Ocean Carbon Cycle," J.L. Sarmiento (Geol. Sci., Princeton Univ., Princeton NJ 08544), Chem. Eng. News, 30-43, May 31, 1993. (A special report for which reprints are available, $10 per copy, from Distribution, Rm. 210, Amer. Chem. Soc., 1155 16th St. NW, Washington DC 20036.)

A comprehensive summary by a prominent researcher in the field, covering current understanding, recent developments, and directions of future work, set in the context of global warming concerns.

Item #d93jul17

Two items from Clim. Change, 23(4), Apr. 1993, both concerning the satellite altimetry data of Zwally et al. (1989) which suggests that the Greenland ice sheet has thickened in recent years, much more than others have estimated.

"Is the Greenland Ice Sheet Getting Thicker?" R.J. Braithwaite (Greenland Geol. Survey, Copenhagen, Denmark), 379-381. Comments on the following paper by van der Veen, stressing the need for more information on the topic and for better communication between remote sensing researchers and glaciologists.

"Interpretations of Short-Term Ice Sheet Elevation Changes Inferred from Satellite Altimetry," C.J. van der Veen (Byrd Polar Res. Ctr., Ohio State Univ., Columbus OH 43210), 383-405. Applies a simple model for interpreting the results of Zwally et al., and concludes that there is an unidentified source of error in their results.

Item #d93jul18

"Milankovitch Theory Viewed from Devil's Hole," J. Imbrie (Dept. Geol., Brown Univ., Providence RI 02912), A.C. Mix, D.G. Martinson, Nature, 363(6429), 531-534, June 10, 1993.

Relates to a paper by Winograd et al. (Global Climate Change Digest, p. 212, Dec. 1992), which calls into question the Milankovich theory of climatic fluctuations. This paper demonstrates that applying the Devils Hole chronology involved to ocean cores requires physically implausible changes in sedimentation rate, contradicting the conclusions of Winograd et al.

Item #d93jul19

"Nimbus Satellites: Setting the Stage for Mission to Planet Earth," H.F. Eden (Astro-Space Div., Martin Marietta Corp., POB 800, Princeton NJ 08543), B.P. Elero, J.N. Perkins, Eos, 74(26), 281, 285, June 19, 1993. Summarizes the instrumentation and observational histories of the Nimbus 1 through 7 satellites.