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> August 25, 2000:
Hour One: Climate Change
Update
The factors that may be contributing to climate change are complex
-- a mix of chemicals such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane,
particles in the atmosphere that either reflect or absorb energy from
the sun, and the interplay between plants, animals, humans, and the
atmosphere. Most policymakers have been targeting carbon dioxide emissions
as a key element of plans to try to reduce the effects of possible global
warming. However, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences suggests that if nations want to prevent
global warming, they might do well to focus not only on carbon dioxide,
but on other greenhouse gases as well.
The study, authored by James Hansen, an early researcher into global
climate change, has stirred up yet more controversy in the often contentious
global warming debate. We'll talk about it on this hour of Science Friday.
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We'll also talk about observations made by several recent visitors
to the Arctic of dramatically thinning sea ice -- even to the
point of having liquid water at the pole itself. While some researchers
are pointing to these observations as another point of support
for global warming theories, others are saying that liquid water
at the North Pole is not unusual and is not a cause for alarm.
We'll find out more.
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RADARSAT image showing Arctic ice. (NASA)
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Call in with your questions and comments - 1-800-989-8255.
Guests:
James Hansen
Director
NASA Goddard Institute for Space
Studies
New York, New York
James McCarthy
Co-chair, Working Group 2
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Professor, Oceanography
Director, Museum of Comparative
Zoology
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Stephen Schneider
Author, "Laboratory
Earth: The Planetary Gamble We Can't Afford to Lose"
(Basic Books, 1997)
Professor, Biological Sciences
Senior Fellow, Institute for International
Studies
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Arctic
temperatures warmest in past four centuries, study says
The
State of the Cryosphere: Sea Ice
Animation
of Arctic Ice Change (4 meg)
OPP
- Arctic Science Section
JPL:
Arctic Sea Ice thickness Derived from High-Res Radar Imagery
Antarctica
Mapped from Space with RADARSAT
NASA
GISS: Global Warming in the 21st Century
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
New
York Times: Ages-Old Polar Icecap Is Melting, Scientists Find
BBC
News: Arctic warming gathers pace
Produced By: Karin Vergoth
Web Producer: Charles
Bergquist |
