roger coppock

Effect of Greenhouse Gases Rising, Government Says

September 28, 2005 - By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The effect of greenhouse gases on the Earth's atmosphere
has increased 20 percent since 1990, a new government index says.

The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index was released Tuesday by the Climate
Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide ac***ulate in the atmosphere as
a result of industrial and other processes. They can help trap solar
heat, somewhat like a greenhouse, resulting in a gradual warming of the
Earth's atmosphere.

The Earth's average temperature increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit
during the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
warns that continuing increases could have serious effects on crops,
glaciers, the spread of disease, rising sea levels and other changes.

In its new ****ysis the laboratory, a branch of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, compares the amounts of carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons in the air. Those gases
have been sampled for many years.

The index was set to a reading of 1 as of 1990 and the lab said it is
currently 1.20, indicating an increase of 20 percent.

"The AGGI will serve as a gauge of success or failure of future efforts
to curb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas increases in the
atmosphere both by natural and human-engineered processes," said David
Hofmann, CMDL director.

The index is expected to be updated each April.

"This index provides us with a valuable benchmark for tracking the
composition of the atmosphere as we seek to better understand the
dynamics of Earth's climate," said NOAA Administrator Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Jr.

In the current reading, for every million air molecules there are about
375 carbon dioxide molecules, two are methane and less than one is a
nitrous oxide molecule. The CFC's make up less than one molecule in a
billion in the atmosphere but play a role in regulating Earth's climate
and are a key factor in the depletion of the protective ozone layer,
NOAA researchers say.

The gases produce an effect known as radiative forcing. It is a shift
in the balance between solar radiation coming into the atmosphere and
Earth's radiation going out. Radiative forcing, as measured by the
index, is calculated from the atmospheric concentration of each
contributing gas and the per-molecule climate forcing of each gas.

The lab said most of the increase measured since 1990 is due to carbon
dioxide, which now accounts for about 62 percent of the radiative
forcing by all long-lived greenhouse gases.

NOAA said the 1990 baseline was chosen because greenhouse gas emissions
targeted by the international Kyoto Protocol also are indexed to 1990.


The source is at:
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=8904

roger coppock

Effect of Greenhouse Gases Rising, Government Says

September 28, 2005 - By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The effect of greenhouse gases on the Earth's atmosphere
has increased 20 percent since 1990, a new government index says.

The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index was released Tuesday by the Climate
Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide ac***ulate in the atmosphere as
a result of industrial and other processes. They can help trap solar
heat, somewhat like a greenhouse, resulting in a gradual warming of the
Earth's atmosphere.

The Earth's average temperature increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit
during the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
warns that continuing increases could have serious effects on crops,
glaciers, the spread of disease, rising sea levels and other changes.

In its new ****ysis the laboratory, a branch of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, compares the amounts of carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons in the air. Those gases
have been sampled for many years.

The index was set to a reading of 1 as of 1990 and the lab said it is
currently 1.20, indicating an increase of 20 percent.

"The AGGI will serve as a gauge of success or failure of future efforts
to curb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas increases in the
atmosphere both by natural and human-engineered processes," said David
Hofmann, CMDL director.

The index is expected to be updated each April.

"This index provides us with a valuable benchmark for tracking the
composition of the atmosphere as we seek to better understand the
dynamics of Earth's climate," said NOAA Administrator Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Jr.

In the current reading, for every million air molecules there are about
375 carbon dioxide molecules, two are methane and less than one is a
nitrous oxide molecule. The CFC's make up less than one molecule in a
billion in the atmosphere but play a role in regulating Earth's climate
and are a key factor in the depletion of the protective ozone layer,
NOAA researchers say.

The gases produce an effect known as radiative forcing. It is a shift
in the balance between solar radiation coming into the atmosphere and
Earth's radiation going out. Radiative forcing, as measured by the
index, is calculated from the atmospheric concentration of each
contributing gas and the per-molecule climate forcing of each gas.

The lab said most of the increase measured since 1990 is due to carbon
dioxide, which now accounts for about 62 percent of the radiative
forcing by all long-lived greenhouse gases.

NOAA said the 1990 baseline was chosen because greenhouse gas emissions
targeted by the international Kyoto Protocol also are indexed to 1990.


The source is at:
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=8904