NASA to Test New Weather, Climate Instrument
December 20, 1999The next Earth-observing mission under NASA's New Millennium Program has
been selected. Earth Observing 3 will study temperature, water vapor,
wind, and the atmosphere, which could lead to revolutionary improvements in
weather observation and prediction. (Associated Press)
Scientists Release Earthquake Map
December 19, 1999Scientists released the first map detailing the entire planet's
earthquake hazard zones, which shows that much of the world's population
live on potentially shakyground. Domenico Giardini at the Swiss
Seismological Service in Zurich says that as a result of this map, more
than half of the countries of the world have new seismic hazard maps.
(Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press)
1999 Continues Warming Trend Around the Globe
December 19, 1999Last month was the warmest November in 105 years of record keeping in the
contiguous 48 United States. Thomas R. Karl, the director of the National
Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., said that he was surprised at the
persistent warmth on land during a La Niña year and that nothing like this
has ever been observed in the temperature record. (William K. Stevens, New
York Times)
NASA Launches Satellite
December 18, 1999NASA's Terra satellite was launched Saturday on a $1.3 billion-plus
mission to observe the interactions between the Earth, atmosphere, and
ocean. Terra is carrying five instruments that have measurement and
accuracy capabilities that have never been put into space. (Associated
Press)
Polar Wind Shift Marks New Global Weather Worry
December 17, 1999Scientists say that shifting wind patterns around the North Pole are
partly to blame for the weather changes in recent decades. David Thompson
at the University of Washington says that the recent trend of climate
changes is unprecedented in climate models. (Reuters)
Volcano Soft Spot Trigger Mudflows
December 15, 1999Soft spots on volcanoes can collapse at any time and trigger mudflows
that can be more devastating than eruptions according to volcanologist
Michael Sheridan at the University of Buffalo in New York. Sheridan says
that avalanches and mudflows could be a big issue for Mount Rainier in
Washington. (Environmental News Network)
Old Trees' Rings Tell Tales of Climate's Past
December 13, 1999Studying the tree rings at the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell in Wrightwood,
Calif., reveal clues about past climate changes. Franco Biondi, who is
leading the study to assemble a 1,500-year chronology of drought and
rainfall for the Los Angeles region, says that the limber pines, named for
their flexible branches, have grown more in the past 20 years than at any
time during that past 1,000 years. Biondi speculates that the growth spurt
may be the result of an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere. (Eric Niiler, Boston Globe)
Buoy Oh Buoy: Comprehensive El Niño Data
December 11, 1999The El Niño-La Niña event of 1997-98 was the largest ever observed and
studied in great detail says Michael R. Landry at the University of Hawaii.
This event provided the first clues about how ocean ecosystems, global
carbon dioxide concentrations, and the physical forces behind El Ni�o
interrelate said Landry. (O. Baker, Science News)
Terra Launch Spotlights NASA Observing System
December 10, 1999The Terra satellite, the first of three major satellites in NASA's Earth
Observing System (EOS), will be launched next week. Terra will gather
information about the Earth's climate and how humans are altering it.
Ghassem Asrar, chief of NASA Earth sciences, says that for the first time a
mission is trying to understand the whole Earth system. (Andrew Lawler,
Science)
El Niño Affecting Carbon Dioxide
December 9, 1999A team of researchers found that El Niño reduces the amount of carbon
dioxide in the equatorial Pacific releases into the air. Francisco Chavez
at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, found that the 1997-98 El
Niño caused a loss of over 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere and a dramatic decrease in the phytoplankton population in the
equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Sky High View of a Huge Flood
December 9, 1999The flooding and heavy rainfall from hurricane Floyd did more damage to
North Carolina marine life than to humans. Pat Tester, an oceanographer at
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminitration, says that if the floods
would have come during the summer there would have been an explosion of
aquatic plant growth that would deplete the oxygen levels in that water and
would have led to a massive suffocation of marine life. (Robert C. Cowen,
Christian Science Monitor)
Arctic Thawing May Jolt Sea's Climate Belt
December 7, 1999Watching the Arctic ice melt may be the key to understanding climate
changes in the future. Peter Schlosser at the Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory, suggests that if the Arctic ice completely melts, the result
will be changes in temperature and rainfall patterns similar to the changes
during an El Niño event. (William K. Stevens, New York Times)
Arctic Sea Ice is Rapidly Dwindling
December 3, 1999Arctic sea ice is shrinking by 14,000 square miles a year, an area
larger than Maryland and Delaware combined, probably because of global
warming caused by human activity. Konstantin Vinnikov, at the University
of Maryland, used a climate model to determine that 98 percent of Arctic
sea ice shrinking was not a result of natural climate variability. (Curt
Suplee, Washington Post)
Will the Arctic Ocean Lose All Its Ice?
December 3, 1999Climatologists have been watching a slow shrinkage of Arctic ice and have
been trying to determine if the shrinking is due to natural or
human-induced climate changes, but new evidence suggests that the Arctic
ice may melt completely in a few decades. Andrew Rothrock at the
University of Washington says that the Arctic ice is not only shrinking in
area but is also rapidly thinning, which may impact our climate in the
future. (Richard A. Kerr, Science)
Burying World's Extra CO2 on Ocean Bottom
December 2, 1999Federal energy officials have joined scientists worldwide to study the
disposal of carbon dioxide as a way of slowing down the "greenhouse
effect." John Houghton, program manager at the Department of Energy, says
that they will find the best ways to dispose of carbon dioxide by looking
at other projects such as a Norwegian petroleum company that has pumped 1
million tons of liquified carbon dioxide below the North Sea each year
since 1996. (Eric Niiler, Christian Science Monitor)
NASA Ames Joins International Effort to Study Ozone Layer
December 1, 1999The most thorough mission probing damage to the ozone layer is under way
in Sweden, where 370 researchers are studying the ozone layer over the next
four months. Max Loewenstein, a physicist at Ames and one of the mission's
principal investigators, says that by March scientists will have a better
understanding of what is happening to the ozone layer. (Glennda Chui, San
Jose Mercury News)