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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 7, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1994

NEWS...

• RESEARCH NEWS

Item #d94mar121

Amphibian decline and UV-B: Oregon researchers have published evidence that exposure to rising levels of ultraviolet light from ozone depletion is a factor in the worldwide decline being observed in some amphibian populations. (See "UV Repair and Resistance to Solar UV-B in Amphibian Eggs: A Link to Population Declines?" A.R. Blaustein, P.L. Hoffman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 91(5), 1791-1795, Mar. 1994. See also articles in Chem. Eng. News, p. 5, Mar. 7; New Scientist, p. 7, Mar. 5; The New York Times, p. C4, Mar. 1.)

Item #d94mar122

Methyl bromide from fires: The recent finding that biomass burning may contribute significantly to methyl bromide emissions raises questions about the control of this chemical under the Montreal Protocol. (See two items in Science, 263(5151), Mar. 4, 1994: "Fires, Atmospheric Chemistry and the Ozone Layer," R.J. Cicerone, 1243-1244; and "Emission of Methyl Bromide from Biomass Burning," S. Manö, M.O. Andreae, 1255-1257. See also Chem. Eng. News, pp. 5-6, Mar. 7.)

Item #d94mar123

Methane trend: In summarizing the finding of Dlugokencky et al., that the rise in atmospheric methane abruptly leveled off in 1991 (GCCD, Jan. 1994), an article in Science (p. 751, Feb. 11) points out that the rise in carbon dioxide also slowed, and oxygen took an unusual jump. With further monitoring, the relative fluctuations of these gases could prove instructive. Speculation that the methane rate change results from the repair of leaks in Russian gas lines is discounted in this article and in an extensive analysis in Energy, Econ. & Clim. Change (pp. 12-15, Jan.).

Item #d94mar124

"Climate Still Reeling from Pinatubo Blast," R. Monastersky, Science News, p. 70, Jan. 29. The eruption caused stratospheric temperatures to plummet to record lows by the end of 1993.

Item #d94mar125

"New CO2 Model Shows Whole Earth 'Breathing,'" B. Hileman, Chem. Eng. News, p. 6, Jan. 10. Workers at the NASA Ames Research Center have developed the first geographically precise, global image of the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and the release of CO2 into it from soils. (See "Terrestrial Ecosystem Production: A Process Model Based on Global Satellite and Surface Data," C.S. Potter, J.T. Randerson et al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 7(4), Dec. 1993: 811-841).