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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 11, NUMBER 1-2, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1998

NEWS...
RESEARCH NEWS

Item #d98feb89

Ocean circulation and climate: The thermohaline circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is responsible for the present-day mild climate of Europe, but a survey paper in Science by Wallace Broecker argues that greenhouse gases could change this with unpleasant consequences. (See Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest.) Another study indicates that the thermohaline circulation could collapse under elevated CO₂, unless the rate of CO₂ increase in the atmosphere proceeds slowly. (See Nature articles in Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest, this issue.) Other papers on the role of ocean circulation on climate appear in Prof. Pubs./Climate Mechanisms and Feedbacks, this issue.

Item #d98feb90

Climate cycle revealed: A roughly 1500-year cycle in climate is apparent in ocean sediment cores from the North Atlantic. The Little Ice Age appears to mark the cold phase of the cycle, but it is impossible to determine what influence this feature will have on temperatures over the next century. (See Bond et al., Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest, and The New York Times science section, Nov. 18, 1997.)

Item #d98feb91

Volcanoes and storms: A 200-year record of gale frequency in Scotland shows that large volcanic eruptions are followed by short periods of intense storminess, a factor that should be considered when projecting the effects of global warming on storms. (See Dawson et al., Prof. Pubs./Of Gen. Interest, and New Scientist, p. 10, Aug. 30, 1997.)

Item #d98feb92

Tropical forest collapse due to greenhouse warming is predicted after the year 2050 by a sophisticated climate-vegetation model at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in Edinburgh. The results were unveiled at the Kyoto conference in December. (See New Scientist, p. 7, Dec. 13, 1997.)