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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
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FROM VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1996

NEWS...
RESEARCH NEWS

Item #d96mar105

NCAR model available: Over the past two years, the National Center for Atmospheric Research has been developing a state-of-the-art climate system model to be made available for the use of the research community. It is now being released for evaluation, improvement, extension, and application by the community. A workshop will be held May 15-17, 1996, in Denver, Colorado, on the model structure, current results, and outstanding problems. Substantial time will be allocated for discussion of opportunities for application, collaboration, and multi-investigator experiments. The workshop is open, but space is limited. Applicants should send a brief letter explaining their interest and background to David Schimel c/o Susan Chavez, Climate Sys. Modeling Prog., POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307 (e-mail: chavez@ncar.ucar.edu). Limited travel funds are available. See Eos, p. 104, Mar. 12, 1996.

Item #d96mar106

Acid rain and UV impacts: For two decades, the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario was the site of deliberate whole-lake acidification experiments that yielded much information on acid rain impacts. Now research at the area reported in the Feb. 22, 1996, issue of Nature describes how the combined effects of acidity and climate warming have increased the penetration of UV light with subsequent effects on aquatic ecosystems. (See Schindler paper, Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest, this Digest issue--Mar. 1996; New Scientist, p. 16, Feb. 24 1996; The New York Times, p. C4, Feb. 27 1996.)

Item #d96mar107

Climate and health, the subject of a session during the December meeting of the American Geophysical Union, is discussed in Nature (Feb. 15, 1996, pp. 582-583) by W.A. Sprigg of the National Research Council. The growing understanding of the links between climate and such serious diseases such as malaria, cholera and dengue fever call for a new international research strategy.

Item #d96mar108

Ozone depletion offsets warming: A paper in the January issue of Climatic Change calculates that ozone depletion may have offset the warming effect of greenhouse gases recently, but the effect will disappear as ozone-depleting substances are reduced. (See Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest, this Digest issue--Mar. 1996.)

Item #d96mar109

Tropical biomass may have been greatly underestimated, according to studies done for the World Bank (see Reports/Clim. Change Sci./Carbon Cycle, this Digest issue--Mar. 1996), and for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. (See New Scientist, p. 8, June 11, 1994.)

Item #d96mar110

Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies, a project of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, is the focus of the Fall/Winter 1995 issue of the institute's news publication Options. Discussed are technology assessment, integrated assessment, and decarbonization and its effects on society in the context of continuing projects at IIASA, and recent publications. (Contact IIASA, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria.)

Item #d96mar111

"The Loitering El Niño: Greenhouse Guest?" R. Monastersky, Science News, p. 54, Jan. 27, 1996. A study reported in the Jan. 1 issue of Geophys. Res. Lett. suggests that the recent behavior of El Niño may be related to increases in greenhouse gases. (See Trenberth paper in Prof. Pubs./Trend Analysis, Jan. 1996 Global Climate Change Digest.) This article discusses the views of the authors and other climatologists on the study.

Item #d96mar112

"Tiny Killers Bloom in Warmer Seas," S. Pain, New Scientist, p. 9, Feb. 24, 1996. A presentation at the latest meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science proposes that warmer seas and increased pollution in coastal waters are encouraging blooms of toxic plankton around the world. Many outbreaks have coincided with El Niño events, suggesting that global warming could trigger more blooms.