Factoid:
According to D. James Baker, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, annual average global surface temperature has been above the long term average 20 years in a row, with 1998 the hottest year on record.
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Factoid:
Over the last 50 years, researchers have reported an increase in mean annual temperature in the Antarctic of 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Greenhouse Effect May Boost Frequency of El Nino
Global warming could lead to more frequent and violent El Nino weather patterns, according to a new study.
Start Date: 4/25/99
A new study by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, says that increasing concentrations of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere may contribute to more frequent and more violent El Nino weather systems, which can affect weather patterns in much of the world.
The findings are based upon more precise computer modeling than has previously been used to study the phenomenon, institute researchers said. Their model predicts higher levels of greenhouse gases will have multiple effects: El Nino-related events are expected to become more common, and year-to-year variations in weather will become more pronounced.
"The tropical Pacific climate system is thus predicted to undergo strong changes if emissions of greenhouse gases continue to increase," the study says. The findings appeared in the April 22, 1999 edition of the journal Nature.
The researchers acknowledged that the use of computer models to simulate weather conditions over the Pacific doesn't account for all possible variables that affect weather. El Nino may depend on poorly understood processes such as the impact of cloud formation on temperature, they wrote.
The severe El Nino of 1997-98 has been followed by an equally severe La Nina, or cooling in the mid-Pacific, which caused record-setting snowfall along the west coast of North America and an extremely dry winter in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Extreme amounts of rain also fell in parts of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and western South America.
 Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security.
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Red Cross Sees Increasing Likelihood of Natural Disasters
In a June 1999 report, the International Red Cross warned of a coming era of 'super-disasters' with more 'environmental refugees,' higher insurance losses and declining ability of relief efforts to meet the challenge.
Much Deforestation Driven By Population, Poverty
Marginalized by the spread of commercial farming and ranching enterprises, subsistance farmers are forced to destroy large amounts of tropical forest for new farmland.
Amazon Destruction More Rapid Than Expected
Destruction of the Amazon rainforest is occurring two to three times more rapidly than previously estimated. Conservatively, 16 percent of the original forest is already gone.
New Theory Says Oil Reserves Bigger Than Expected -- And E.T. Might Live Underground
Cornell University Professor Thomas Gold says oil is purely geological, not biological, in origin; and life probably started underground, so look there for ET.
Global Warming Devastates World's Coral Reefs
Rising sea water temperature due to global warming threatens to destroy the majority of coral reefs on earth, with potentially huge ecological and economic consequences.
1998 Was the Hottest Year on Record
NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) both released data showing that 1998 was the hottest year on record, by a surprisingly large margin.
New Data Points to Reality of Climate Change
Recent studies of atmospheric surface temperatures and ocean temperatures support the claim that global warming is occurring and will probably bring major climate changes in coming years.
Evidence of Ancient Asteroid Found
Evidence suggests an asteroid hit Argentina 3.3 million years ago, causing regional extinctions and climate change.
Forecasters See Severe Hurricane Season Ahead
Meteorologists say the La Nina cold water condition in the Pacific is likely to produce higher than average hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Caribbean this year.
Water Shortages Will Bring Strife in New Millennium
Limited water supplies will be a major source of international tension in coming years. In March, 1999, Israel and Jordan almost came to blows over water; more trouble lies ahead.
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