Hot, Dry Still
July 29, 1999Meteorologists say do not blame global warming for the hot, dry spell over the mid-Atlantic states this summer. Jerry Mahlman, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration?s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory says that there is global warming, but you cannot see it by looking at the weather in New York City. (Kenneth Chang, ABCNEWS.com)
Sizzling Summer Not Hot Proof of Global Warming
July 28, 1999Sizzling temperatures are blamed for dozens of deaths in the United States. Jim St. John, a meteorologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, says that a heat wave does not necessarily tell us anything about climate change. (Natalie Pawelski and Paul Dykstra, CNN)
Scientists Shaking Up Colorado
July 27, 1999Scientists at the University of Colorado are blasting the underground
crust of Colorado to learn how volcanic islands became the Rocky Mountains.
From Wyoming to New Mexico, scientists will bury over one thousand seismic
instruments to gather data that will let them map what underground Colorado
looks like. (Bill Scanlon, Denver Rocky Mountain News)
Carbon Dioxide Shakes Off Its Pursuers
July 24, 1999A new study discounts findings published last year by Princeton
University scientists that the United States may be acting as a carbon
sponge to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Scientists at Woods
Hole Research Center tested Princeton University’s findings and
concluded that during the 1980s only a small percentage of carbon dioxide
produced in the United States was actually absorbed. (Richard Monastersky,
Science News)
Clouds’ Illusions Attract Ocean Weather
July 23, 1999Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will attempt to
identify exactly what clouds are made of this weekend. The experiment in
conjunction with NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission will study
clouds over an atoll in the Pacific Ocean called Kwajalein. Scientists
will compare clouds over the atoll to clouds over land to learn more about
the dynamics of clouds. (Robin Lloyd, CNN Interactive)
Flood Cooled Atmosphere in Ice Age
July 22, 1999Global warming can lead to cold weather, says climate researchers. In a
report published in the journal Nature, University of Colorado and Canadian
researchers describe a 8,200 year old flood scenario that demonstrates how
global warming can melt glaciers causing a flood of cold water that could
lead to a global atmosphere cooling. (Associated Press)
Ocean Fever Heralds Epidemics
July 17, 1999Researchers at Goddard Space Flight Center have found that the early
signs of an El Niño in the Pacific Ocean may also give an early
warning about outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in Africa. Based on records
of viral attacks and ocean temperatures from 1950 until the present,
researchers found a consistent pattern they can use to predict future
outbreaks. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)
Does a Globe-Girdling Disturbance Jigger El Niño?
July 16, 1999In 1997, one computer model after another predicted the El Niño
1997-1998, but the warming associated with El Niño was several times
stronger than they predicted. Since then, Michael McPhaden of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that the Madden-Julian
Oscillation, which sends bursts of warm winds across the western Pacific,
does not cause El Niño, but it does determine the strength of an El
Niño. (Richard A. Kerr, Science).
New Evidence Heats Up Climate Debate
July 15, 1999Global warming has not stopped, but it is not happening as quickly as
scientists thought. Scientists expected the growth rate of heat-trapping
greenhouse gases to accelerate, instead it has declined by 25 percent
since 1980. With the launch of NASA?s Earth Observing System
satellite, Terra, scientists will be able to continually monitor the
Earth. (Robert C. Cowen, The Christian Science Monitor)
Corals in Hot Water
July 15, 1999Researchers at the University of Georgia have found one reason why some of the world?s coral reefs are dying. The researchers point to rising global ocean temperatures that reduce photosynthesis in coral reefs as one cause in the bleaching of the reefs.(Lee Dye, ABC News)
Sahara Turned To Desert in Abrupt Climate Change
July 15, 1999A few thousand years ago because of an increase in air temperature and a
decrease in rainfall, the grasslands of North Africa turned into desert.
In a report in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of German
analyzed computer models of climate over the past several thousand years
and concluded that the Sahara desert was created by changes in the
Earth’s orbit and the tilt of Earth’s axis. (Associated Press)
African Dust Settles in Miami
July 13, 1999Take a breath in Miami this summer and chances are you will inhale a bit
of Africa. In a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research,
Joseph M. Prosper of the University of Miami reports that on some summer
days as much as half of the dust in Miami?s air is from Africa.
Prospero notes that little research has been done about the health effects
of dust in the air. (Associated Press)
Flights Could Be Helping Make Earth's Skies More Unfriendly
July 12, 1999Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center have found that
contrails, the condensation trails left by aircraft, may be contributing to
global warming. In a paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters,
Patrick Minnis has studied how the contrails trap more of the sun’s
heat near Earth’s surface. (Alexandra Witze, Dallas Morning News)
Quenched Fire Found in Greenland Ice
July 10, 1999Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found volcanic debris
in an ice core in Greenland that originated from the explosion of Mount
Mazama in Oregon more than 7,000 years ago. In a report published in
Geology, the researchers estimate that Mount Mazama injected up to 224
million tons of sulfuric acid into the atmosphere during the eruption.
(Richard Monastersky, Science News)
NASA Satellites May 'Revolutionize' Earth Sciences
July 9, 1999Most climatologists would agree that the Earth has warmed sharply during
the past century, and that human activity is responsible at least in part. Over the next four years NASA?s Earth Observing System will launch a fleet
of 26 satellites to measure Earth's climatic system in greater detail and
more comprehensively than ever before. (Kim A. McDonald, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Global Warming to Ravage World's Coral
July 5, 1999Global warming will ruin the world's coral reefs by early in the new
millennium and could eliminate them from most areas by 2100 according to a
report by Coral Reef Director, Ove Hoeg-Guldberg. Rising temperatures
will systematically bleach and kill the reefs unless action is taken to
reverse global warming says a biologist and coral specialist at Sydney
University. (Reuters)
Reading the Leaves for Climate Clues
July 3, 1999Mummified birch leaves are haunting scientists who are trying to piece
together the history of carbon dioxide. For the first time, scientists are
able to trace short-term variations in carbon dioxide. Other scientists
argue, however, that ice-core studies are a more reliable carbon dioxide
measure. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)
La Niña Stirs Weather Extremes
July 3, 1999La Ni�a has contributed to the drought in the mid-Atlantic states
and will cause an unusually strong hurricane season in the Atlantic
according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Scientists predict that La Ni�a will persist into
early 2000. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)
Lack of Icebergs Another Sign of Global Warming
July 2, 1999For the first time in 85 years, the International Ice Patrol did not
issue any bulletins about potential icebergs. John Wallace, a
meteorologist at University of Washington, says that since the 1980s winter
temperatures have risen 0.5 degrees Celsius. (Bernice Wuethrich, Science)
Ozone-Depleting Gases Are Not Natural
July 2, 1999Most of the gases responsible for stratospheric ozone depletion are
produced by human activities. Federal and university scientists analyzed
the air trapped in polar snowpacks in Antarctica and Greenland and found
that major ozone-depleting gases were produced from human emissions and not
from the natural contributions of volcanoes. (CNN Interactive)