- APPARENT LACK OF ICEBERGS MAY BE ANOTHER SIGN OF GLOBAL
WARMING
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- This past spring, for reasons that apparently no one
understands, the Grand Banks shipping lanes, located southeast of Newfoundland
and notoriously known as "Iceberg Alley", were an ice-free zone.
For the first time in 85 years, the International Ice Patrol issued not
a single bulletin reporting lurking icebergs. Steve Sielbeck, the Commander
of the Patrol says, "The lack of ice is remarkable." The absence
of icebergs is evidently not consistent with various climatological parameters
usually used to predict iceberg flow into the region, and global warming
is considered by oceanographers to be a major possible explanation. Winter
temperatures have apparently risen 0.5 degrees centigrade poleward of latitude
45 degrees north, a line that runs through the Grand Banks. As for the
Grand Banks region itself, the water in the Grand Banks was 2 degrees centigrade
above normal, ostensibly warm enough to melt any ice that managed to reach
it. There is indeed a possibility that natural climate fluctuation is responsible
for the phenomenon, but one oceanographer, Ken Drinkwater (Bedford Institute
of Oceanography, CA) says, "Something is out of sync.". Apparently,
no one is predicting whether the icebergs of "Iceberg Alley"
will return next year. (Science 2 Jul 99)
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- NEW MODEL SUGGESTS SUDDEN CREATION OF SAHARA AND ARABIAN
DESERTS
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- One of the most striking climate changes of the past
11,000 years apparently caused the abrupt desertification of the Saharan
and Arabia regions midway through that period, and the consequent loss
of the Sahara to agricultural pursuits may have been one reason that civilizations
were founded along the valleys of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.
M. Claussen et al (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, DE),
using a new climate system model, report this desertification may have
been initiated by subtle changes in the Earth's orbit and strongly amplified
by resulting atmospheric and vegetation feedbacks in the subtropics. The
authors suggest the timing of the transition was mainly governed by a global
interplay among atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, and vegetation. The model used
in the research analyzes climate feedbacks during the past several thousand
years of the current era (Holocene era). The model indicates that desertification
of North Africa began abruptly 5440 (+/- 30) years ago. (Geophys. Res.
Lett. 15 Jul 99)
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- US SCIENTISTS ACCUSE CONGRESS OF IGNORING GLOBAL WARMING
DATA
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- A group of 57 scientists from 24 states in the US, organized
by the Union of Concerned Scientists, recently announced at a press conference
that the effects of global climate change could be severe for the US. The
group has accused the US Congress of ignoring solid data on climate change,
wasting precious time that should be used to counter the effects of human-generated
greenhouse gases. The group has urged Congress to adopt policies to improve
energy efficiency and encourage the use of renewable energy. Although the
apparent consensus in the science community is that global warming is a
real threat, a small group of researchers say the planet will warm, but
not as much as has been feared, and that government efforts to promote
renewable energy and energy efficiency are not needed in a market system
in which they will evolve anyway. From this perspective, the options for
the public seem clear: If the concerned scientists are wrong, we get unneeded
regulations; if those opposed to regulations are wrong, we get worldwide
catastrophe. (Nature 1 Jul 99)
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