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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 9, SEPTEMBER 1994

RESEARCH NEWS...

Item #d94sep104

Ocean fertilization results: A recent field test in the equatorial Pacific of the iron fertilization hypothesis is reported in the Sep. 8 issue of Nature. (See Prof. Pubs./Gen. Interest/Science.) Fertilization did stimulate phytoplankton growth, but measurements suggest that deliberate fertilization would not alter atmospheric CO2 levels significantly. Andrew Watson of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, cited in a news report in New Scientist (p. 17, Sep. 17), comments that fertilization of the Southern Ocean might have a greater impact on atmospheric CO2 levels, but that it would be far simpler to burn less fossil fuel.

Sun-climate relationships: Statistical relationships between solar activity and weather or climate on Earth have been reported for years, but a physical mechanism linking them has been absent. Two independent new studies that offer possibilities are discussed in New Scientist (p. 14, Sep. 17). One of them is also described in a recent paper by J.D. Haigh (see Prof. Pubs./Sun-Climate Relationships).

Carbon model available: Software for Version 1.0 of the Global Carbon Cycling Model (GLOCO), developed to simulate processes that govern the global carbon cycle and to analyze the effects of possible strategies for regulating greenhouse gas concentrations, is now available from the Electric Power Research Institute. (See related paper in Prof. Pubs./Gen. Interest/Clim. Change Sci.) Contact Robert Goldstein, EPRI, POB 10412, Palo Alto CA 94303 (415-855-2593).

Biosphere 2: After a controversial initial phase of operation, the enclosed ecological test facility in the Arizona desert is starting a new life on a solid scientific footing. Texas billionaire sponsor Ed Bass announced that Biosphere has entered a non-profit research agreement with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, N.Y., under the guidance of a board of prominent academic scientists. (See Science, p. 1027, Aug. 19; Nature, p. 495, Aug. 18.)

Global change data survey: The U.S. Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change (IWGDMGC) has begun to determine priorities for improving existing data sets needed to understand policy-relevant global change processes. It is currently soliciting opinions on needed improvements to existing data sets related to trace-gas dynamics; for instance, documentation, quality assurance, or improved access. Contact Robert Cushman, Carbon Dioxide Info. Analysis Ctr., Oak Ridge Natl. Lab., MS-6335, Oak Ridge TN 37831 (tel: 615-574-0390; fax: 615-574-2232; e-mail: cdiac@ornl.gov).