[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News 04-23-04

Fri Apr 23 17:03:43 CDT 2004

DIALOG and Disccrs News
04-23-04

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Resources

The Great Lakes an Environmental Atlas and 
Resource Book, EPA, find a richly illustrated and 
concisely written on-line atlas with chapters 
devoted to the natural and cultural history of 
the Great Lakes, current problems and sources of 
exploitation, plus management policies. The 
comprehensive approach to understanding the Great 
Lakes lends credibility to the systems approach 
advocated by the Biocomplexity Initiative.
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/index.html

Current Marine Data, Ocean Weather Inc., this 
commercial site offers a clean, quick world map 
interface for accessing water temperature, wave 
height, and wind direction.  A Java loop puts 
these parameters into motion.  This is a good 
site for correlating wave height with storms and 
circulation around semi permanent pressure cells.
http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

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Science News
Check out this section both for information, and for
examples of how to communicate science to a non-scientist audience

PLAN NEAR FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE MONITORING
from Associated Press
     TOKYO -- Nations are near agreement on the blueprint of a global climate
monitoring system that would help forecast environmental threats such as
rising sea levels or drought, but negotiating the details won't be easy,
U.S. officials said Friday.
     Officials from 47 nations and more than two dozen international
organizations are meeting in Tokyo this week to decide what the climate
watch system should look like, who will run it and how open it should be.
They are expected to announce on Sunday a plan for the next decade through
2015.
      U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head, 
Mike Leavitt, cautioned that the
system will likely suffer growing pains.
http://snipurl.com/5wdc

SCIENCE GROUP SAYS U.S. BUDGET PLAN WOULD HARM RESEARCH
from The New York Times (Registration Required)
      WASHINGTON, April 22 — The nation's largest general science group said
Thursday that the Bush administration's proposed budget for the next five
years could cut research financing at 21 of the 24 federal agencies that
engage in it.
      Among fields that would most likely be hurt, the organization said, are
physics, medicine, oceanography, astronomy, geology, chemistry, psychology,
biology, climatology, anthropology, ecology, mathematics, archaeology,
meteorology, sociology and energy research.
      "Particularly during a presidential election year, it's essential that
policy makers and taxpayers understand the impacts of any federal budget
changes, especially any proposals that may have implications for the pace
of scientific discoveries in coming years," said Al Teich, director of
science and policy programs for the group, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, based in Washington.
http://snipurl.com/5wd7

ARCTIC OZONE LOSS MORE SENSITIVE TO CLIMATE CHANGE THAN THOUGHT
NASA PRESS RELEASE: 04-138
      A cooperative study involving NASA scientists
quantifies, for the first time, the relationship between
Arctic ozone loss and changes in the temperature of Earth's
stratosphere.
      The results indicate the loss of Arctic ozone due to the
presence of industrial chlorine and bromine in Earth's
atmosphere may well be sensitive to subtle changes in
stratospheric climate. Such ozone depletion leads to
increased exposure to harmful, ultraviolet solar radiation at
Earth's surface.
      According to the study, the sensitivity of Arctic ozone to
temperature is three times greater than predicted by
atmospheric chemistry models. This leads to the possibility
decreases in stratospheric temperatures may have
significantly larger impacts on future Arctic ozone
concentrations than have been expected in the past. Dr.
Markus Rex of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and
Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany, led the study. It also
included scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
      The researchers analyzed more than 2,000 balloon measurements
collected over the past 12 years. They found the amount of
ozone loss occurring in any given Arctic winter is closely
related to the amount of air exposed to temperatures low
enough to support the formation of polar stratospheric
clouds. Reactions occurring on the surface of these clouds
convert chlorine from unreactive forms to other forms that
quickly deplete ozone.
      Based on the relation between ozone loss and polar
stratospheric cloud existence, the researchers found every
degree Kelvin (equal to one Celsius degree) cooling of the
Arctic results in an additional ozone destruction of five
percent. This sensitivity is a factor of three larger than
previously predicted by state-of-the-art, coupled climate-
chemistry computer models.
      The scientists found the coldest stratospheric winters,
during which most of the ozone loss occurs due to greater
polar stratospheric cloud formation, have gradually become
significantly cooler during the past few decades. "If
stratospheric climatic conditions had not changed since the
1960s, Arctic ozone loss would be much less severe today,
despite the increase in chlorofluorocarbons and bromine," Rex
said.
      "This study presents a new method of looking at a multi-year
data set that enables us to relate year-to-year variations in
the amount of ozone depletion to climate change," said co-
author Dr. Ross Salawitch, a JPL research scientist. "Results
of this research will lead to substantially improved computer
model simulations of this phenomenon and will provide an
excellent method for analyzing data from satellites such as
NASA's soon-to-be-launched Aura atmospheric chemistry
laboratory," he said.
      Researchers are trying to understand why the Arctic
stratosphere cools. It may be due to a number of factors:
rising levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide; a
feedback between ozone depletion and stratospheric
temperature; and natural variability. Higher amounts of
greenhouse gases trap heat near Earth's surface, warming the
surface and preventing the heat from reaching the
stratosphere, thus cooling the upper atmosphere. However,
climate models vary widely in their estimates of how much
stratospheric cooling has occurred due to rising greenhouse
gases over the past 40 years.
      Stratospheric chlorine and bromine have begun to decline in
response to the Montreal Protocol, a worldwide agreement
signed in 1987 that limits the production of
chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone depleting pollutants.
Scientists believe this indicates the cleansing process has
begun, and eventually the ozone layer will recover, although
chlorofluorocarbons can stay in the atmosphere for 50 to 100
years. The study suggests the healing process might be
slowed, in the short term, by changes in stratospheric
climate.
      Tracking the predicted recovery of the ozone layer is a key
science objective of NASA's Aura spacecraft. Aura is the
latest in the Earth Observing System series and scheduled for
launch in June. Aura will study the atmosphere's chemistry
and dynamics, providing data to help scientists better
understand Earth's ozone, air quality and climate change.
Aura's chemistry measurements will follow up on records that
began with NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite and
will also continue the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
mission's goal of collecting comprehensive ozone data.
      The paper was highlighted by the American Geophysical Union
and published in Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 31,
L04116.
      For information about the research on the Internet, visit:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/earth/air_ozone/air_ozone_index.cfm

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Forum

US Commission on Ocean Policy
The US Commission on Ocean Policy has released its preliminary report
today [April 20, 2004].  The public comment 
period is open for 30 days, ending on 21 May. 
You may wish to send comments to the Commission 
during this period.  Details about the Commission 
and its work are available at
http://oceancommission.gov/.
      AGU has also formed a panel to draft a 
position statement on the report, focusing on 
issues that deal with research and education. The 
panel
welcomes your input and recommendations.  A copy of the comments you
send directly to the Commission would be helpful to the panel.  Please
send your comments to Peter Folger at AGU headquarters, pfolger at agu.org
<mailto:pfolger at agu.org>.
      The commission report establishes findings and makes recommendations to
the President and Congress for a coordinated and comprehensive national
ocean policy.  It addresses a range of issues, from stewardship of
marine resources to marine science and research, including coastal and
estuarine research.  This is the first comprehensive review of U.S.
ocean policy since the Stratton Commission report over 30 years ago.
      Panel members are:
Michael J. McPhaden-Chair
Kenneth H. Brink
Antonio J. Busalacchi
Janet W. Campbell
Margaret L. Delaney
Jeff Dozier
Rana A. Fine
David M. Karl
John A. Knauss
Cindy Lee
Jeffrey J. Park
      Sincerely,
Michael McPhaden
President, Ocean Sciences Section

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Jobs for PhDs

Interdisciplinary Research and Education at NCAR
We have an important senior position open at NCAR 
for someone with a strong interest in 
interdisciplinary research and education.  The 
announcement is at:
http://www.fin.ucar.edu/hr/careers/uco.cfm?do=jobDetailExt&job_ID=253

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This newsletter has been developed by C. Susan 
Weiler for the purpose of distributing 
information of potential interest to recent PhDs 
engaged in interdisciplinary aquatic science or 
climate change research, and to build an 
international sense of community among recent 
grads. It provides an international forum for the 
exchange of information and opinions regarding 
research, professional and social issues.
The views and opinions expressed are strictly 
those of C.S. Weiler or of the individual who has 
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opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect 
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Please submit announcements of interest to recent 
PhDs to phd at whitman.edu or weiler at whitman.edu.
For ease of transmission, please do not send 
attachments. Send a short message in the body of 
an e-mail message, and link to any appropriate 
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-- 
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.          
Biology Department                  Tel:   509-527-5948          
Whitman College                       Fax:  509-527-5961
Walla Walla, WA 99362
weiler at whitman.edu    
   Programs for Recent PhDs             http://aslo.org/phd.html
   Minorities in the Aquatic Sciences  http://www.aslo.org/mas.html
   DIALOG poster  http://www.aslo.org/phd/dialogposter.pdf
   DISCCRS poster       http://www.aslo.org/phd/disccrsposter.pdf
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