Home
Editorial
Articles
Opportunities
Publications
Upcoming Meetings
Past Meetings
Websites
Fundamental Links
View in PDF
Previous Issues
Subscribe
Search
Feedback
Articles of interest to the ENSO community
(See previous editions of the ENSO Signal for others.)Current State of the Tropical Pacific
The Spring Barrier
Animating El Niño
Glacier Surge After Ice Shelf Collapse
Solving Indonesia's Fire Problem
El Niño-Induced Drought and Record Air Pollution
GFDL Visitor OpportunityArticles of interest to the network
(See previous editions of the Newsletter for others.)Partnership for Principle 10
Third World Water Forum
Earth Day 2003: Water for Life
NWS Climate Services Partnership Program
Climate Affairs: A Primer
Solar Power in India
Ogallala Aquifer Institute
OXFAM Country Profiles
Global Campaign for Education
POGO: Project on Government Oversight
New Disaster Mitigation Newsletter
Peter A. Wilderer Receives Stockholm Water Prize
Global Wind Power Sets Record in 2002
Pacific Institute Launches Water and Climate Bibliography
Streams of Knowledge
Reporters Without Borders
Wangari Maathai Wins Landslide Victory
New NOAA Strategic Plan
|
Thank You For Your Input! Please send news items, publications, Web sites, and articles of interest to our readers to the address below by 30 June 2003. This newsletter values input from its readers, which has now reached over 2,000. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter only on line, please subscribe there. You will be notified electronically when a new issue is released. Feedback is encouraged! |
CURRENT STATE OF THE TROPICAL PACIFIC
(From the Climate Prediction Center's Climate Diagnostics Bulletin)
www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
(as of 10 April 2003)El Niño conditions continued to weaken during March 2003, as SST anomalies decreased throughout the eastern and central equatorial Pacific. Since December, SST anomalies have decreased by more than 2°C in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and there has also been a steady decrease in the magnitude and extent of the positive subsurface temperature anomalies, indicating a depletion of the excess warmth in the upper ocean of the equatorial Pacific. This evolution is typical during the decay phases of warm episodes. In spite of these trends, significant positive SST anomalies remained in the central equatorial Pacific during March, with greater-than-average precipitation and cloudiness over the western part of this region, although the departures from average have decreased substantially during the past two months. The consensus forecast is for near-normal conditions through September 2003. However, there is uncertainty in this forecast, with some forecasts indicating possibly continued weak El Niño conditions and other indicating the development of La Niña conditions during the last half of 2003.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
El Niño and La Nina events tend to develop between April and June of each year, a period when making prediction is more difficult. This is often called the "spring barrier" in the Northern Hemisphere and the "autumn barrier" in the Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, in the current situation both statistical and dynamical models begin to diverge widely in early autumn as to what might be expected at the end of 2003. However, once an event has begun, forecasting the continuing evolution of the event is less problematic.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
A vivid animation based on data from the European Space Agency (ESA) shows the onset of the recent El Niño phenomenon from July to December of 2002. Covering a large area of the Pacific Ocean from South America to Australia and Southeast Asia, the animation demonstrates the three most important factors that mark the El Niño phenomenon: (1) sea surface temperature, (2) sea surface levels, and (3) winds. The animation incorporates data from several ERS-2 instruments. See the animation at www.esa.int/export/esaSA/SEMY0J2A6BD_earth_0.html
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
GLACIER SURGE AFTER ICE SHELF COLLAPSEA new article in the 7 March 2003 issue of Science by two researchers from Argentina suggest that the possibility exists of the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In the event of this occurring, it would imply a sudden increase in sea level. Using satellite images and airborne surveys, the authors discovered a definite acceleration of ice shelf collapse from 1999 to 2001. The evidence unambiguously shows that five of the six major tributaries that formerly nourished the disintegrated portions of the Larsen Ice Shelf have recently experienced important dynamic perturbations. They suggest that these perturbations may be exacerbated by regional climatic warming. The authors call for a reconsideration of former hypothesis about the stabilizing role of ice shelves.
de Angelis, H., and P. Skvarca, 2003: Glacier surge after ice shelf collapse. Science, 299, 1560-1562. www.sciencemag.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
SOLVING INDONESIA'S FIRE PROBLEM
Coinciding with the outbreak of fires in Indonesia during March 2003, a new report just released examines the role of inadequate management of peat lands as an underlying cause of smoke haze in Indonesia. The report was written by Luca Tacconi of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia. Fires have risen to global attention in recent years as an environmental and economic issue, especially following the 1997-98 El Niño event during which up to 25 million hectares of land worldwide were affected by fire. The report, Fires in Indonesia: Causes, Costs and Policy Implications, is available free of charge at the CIFOR website at www.cifor.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
El NIÑO-INDUCED DROUGHT AND RECORD AIR POLLUTIONIn another look at forest fires and El Niño, scientists using NASA satellite data have found that the most intense global pollution from fires occurred during droughts exacerbated by El Niño. The most intense fires took place in 1997-98 in association with the strong El Niño. Researchers from Harvard University have quantified the amount of smoke pollution from biomass burning over the past twenty years. They recently published a study that describes how they combined data from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) with Scanning Radiometer and Sounder (ASTR) fire count data from the European Space Agency's European Remote Sensing-2 satellite. They found that fires typically produce the most pollution in Southeast Asia in March, in northern Africa in January and February, and in southern Africa and Brazil in August and September.
Duncan, B.N., R.V. Martin, A.C. Staudt, R. Yevich, and J.A. Logan, 2003: Interannual and seasonal variability of biomass burning emissions constrained by satellite observations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(D2), 4100, doi:10.1029/2002JD002378.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is recruiting postdoctoral scientists and short-term senior visitors to work in Princeton, New Jersey at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) as part of the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI). GFDL conducts fundamental and applied oceanic and atmospheric research on a variety of problems of importance to society and central to NOAA's mission. In the past several years, GFDL has reorganized to develop a new generation of climate and Earth system models to support its research for the coming decade. GFDL expects some of these new postdoctoral positions to evolve into permanent civil service hires as it expands its staff in the next several years. These positions are intended to expedite the development of this new generation of climate models, as well as the climate change research conducted with them. Specific areas identified as priorities for postdoctoral positions are detailed at www.vsp.ucar.edu, including the full text announcement. Application deadlines are 15 January and 15 July. Applications are reviewed twice yearly by a steering committee. Send to UCAR/VSP, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 USA. For more information, contact 1-303-497-8649 or send email to vsp@ucar.edu. UCAR is an equal opportunity employer.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10) provides a platform for governments, international institutions, and non-governmental organizations to articulate specific commitments reaffirming their pledges to "Principle 10" of the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992. This Principle calls on governments to increase public access to information, participation, and justice with regard to policy decisions affecting the environment. PP10 builds on the work of The Access Initiative (TAI), a global coalition of public interest groups initiated by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The Partnership held its first meeting in April 2003 and aims to provide citizens with an assessment of ways to raise the awareness of government officials regarding the need to provide citizens with an informed voice in environmental decision-making. For more information, see the PP10 website at www.pp10.org or write to WRI, 10 G St., NE (Suite 800), Washington, DC 20002 USA; tel: 1-202-729-7600; fax: 1-202-729-7610; front@wri.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
More than 100 new commitments on water were made by participants of the 8-day Third World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Shiga, and Osaka, Japan on 16-23 March 2003, holding 351 separate sessions on 38 interlocking themes dealing with water, especially how to bring safe water and sanitation to the world. More than 24,000 participants from 182 countries attended the sessions. The Organizing Committee has issued a preliminary 8-page Forum Statement, which reflects the content of all session reports, as well as thematic and regional statements received as of 21 March. This preliminary draft is posted on the website for comments. A revised draft statement will be posted on the website for further comments on 30 April, with a final statement to be issued on 15 May in order to provide input to the G-8 meeting to be held in June 2003. The statement is available in both PDF and MS Word at www.worldwaterforum.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
EARTH DAY 2003: WATER FOR LIFEOn Earth Day 2003 (22 April), Earth Day Network launches a two-year campaign to highlight critical water access, health, and usage issues around the world. The campaign aims to garner political will, inspire individual action, and mobilize the necessary resources to improve water quality. The Network has prepared a comprehensive guide to water quality, with suggestions for citizen action on local to global scales. It includes a project designed to measure the health of local water, allowing participants to generate a report of the findings. Earth Day will publish a compendium of all participating groups and the results. The website also includes a challenge to the private sector to conserve water and reinvest in community development through a "Corporate Water Challenge." For more information, see the website at www.earthday.net/goals/ or write to Earth Day Network, 1616 P St. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036; tel: 1-202-518-0044; fax: 1-202-518-8794.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
NWS CLIMATE SERVICES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
The US National Weather Service (NWS) has implemented a Climate Services Partnership Program within the Climate Services Division (CSD) of the Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services in the NWS. The program aims to promote partnerships, improve communication, contribute insights, and share information. Requirements to be accepted in the program include (1) a new partnership the applicant wants to develop or expand; (2) a strong interest in climate prediction and variability; (3) two consecutive weeks for a visit to the Washington, DC area; and a one-hour presentation within the first few days of the visit. The CSD covers the cost of travel and per diem for all participants. Two slots per month are available. To apply, see the website at www.nws.noaa.gov/om/csd/visitors/ for availability during 2003-2004. An application is also on line, or contact Judith A. Koepsell at judy.koepsell@noaa.gov; tel: 1-301-713-1970 Ext. 187; fax: 1-301-713-1520.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
Michael Glantz's latest book will become available in May 2003 from Island Press. Climate Affairs addresses questions surrounding the impacts of climate variability, climate change, and extreme climate-related events. It outlines a way to address the interactions among climate, society, and the environment. It also considers the full range of climate-related topics, including climate science, climate impacts, climate policy and law, climate politics, climate economics, and climate ethics. It can be a key resource for decision makers, as well as for students and scholars working in climate and climate-related fields. Network Newsletter readers can obtain a 20% discount off the book by ordering from Island Press before 30 May 2003. Call 1-800-828-1302 and ask for Dept. 3GLA or fax 707-983-6414, or mail Island Press, PO Box 7, Covelo, CA 95428 USA to the attention Dept. 3GLA. More information about the book is available at www.esig.ucar.edu/affairs.html
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
A major new initiative has been launched between the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and two of India's largest banking groups to help southern Indian households in Karnataka finance clean and reliable energy from solar power. Many Indian households still rely on inefficient energy sources such as kerosene. Despite high initial costs, solar home systems are a viable source of energy. Consequently, these two banks, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, are credited with financing group lending through self-help groups and then advance loans to the poor. The UNEP partnership allows both banks to offer new loans for the growing renewable energy sector. Background information and a color photo of a home system installation can be viewed at www.uneptie.org/energy/Indian-Solar-Finance. For more information, contact Robert Bisset, UNEP Press Officer, tel: 33-1-44377613 or see the UNEP Energy Unit website at www.uneptie.org/energy
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
An eight-state Ogallala Aquifer Institute is being formed to consider various scenarios in managing and protecting the 174,000-square-mile groundwater supply. The Institute's goals are to promote education and cooperation among the eight states and to find common solutions to problems, such as the increasing demands made on the aquifer because of the recent drought. The aquifer contains an estimated 3.25 billion acre-feet of recoverable water and comprises about 20% of all the groundwater in the United States and 30% of its irrigated cropland acres. The Institute began from recommendations of two citizen-based advisory committees in Kansas, which can be accessed on the Kansas Water Office website at www.kwo.org/Reports/ogallala_mgt__rpt_.htm. States represented in the Institute are Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and South Dakota. A website is being designed and will become available shortly. The Institute will be housed at the Finnup Center for Conservation Education in Garden City, Kansas. For more information, contact Executive Director Steve Frost at sfrost@kdhe.state.ks.us or call 1-785-296-5505.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
Oxfam Country Profiles is an extensive series of accessible introductions to developing countries, focusing on the lives of ordinary people and the major development issues that affect them. Each Profile includes basic information on the history, society, politics, economy, and environment of the country. Oxfam Publishing is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and injustice around the globe. It publishes books and other materials for policy makers, academics, and students as part of its program of advocacy, education, and information. Their website is at www.oxfam.org.uk and the Profiles ordering information is under "Professional & Academic" publications.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
More than fifty years after education has been affirmed by governments to be a fundamental human right, one out of three adults remains illiterate. To promote literacy, organizations in more than 180 countries have joined forces to launch the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). Activities around the world have been designed to draw the attention of politicians, media, and the public to the importance of achieving the promise of more education, especially for girls. Each year of schooling gained by each child increases her changes of escaping from poverty, contributes to economic growth, and strengthens the fabric of democracy. To measure the impact and relevance of these campaigns, GCE has released a Feedback Survey on its website at www.campaignforeducation.org. On 9 April 2003, the GCE broke the Guinness World Record for the world's biggest-ever lesson of having the largest number of people learning the same thing at the same time. See the website for more information, or write to GCE c/o Education International, Bld. Du Roi Albert II, 5 (8th Floor), 12120 Brussels, Belgium.
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
POGO: PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
POGO is an internship program for those who want to learn how to use the tools available for citizens to research government and corporations and observe how Washington works. POGO's interns assist in researching government subservience to special interest groups. Sometimes the intern's research culminates in a POGO report. They also write opinion pieces for media release and assist in writing testimony for Congressional hearings. POGO is not looking for an intern to have a specific major, but is looking for individuals who are creative, self-motivated, inquisitive, and concerned about justice. POGO has interns all year; fall semester is from September-December; spring semester January-May. POGO has no application deadline, but due to the number of applicants it is advised that you apply as soon as possible. Write to Seth Morris, Research Assistant/Intern Coordinator, POGO, 666 11th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001, tel: 1-202-347-1122; fax: 1-202-347-1116; email seth@pogo.org, or see the website at www.pogo.org/p/x/internships.html
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
NEW DISASTER MITIGATION NEWSLETTERDisaster Mitigation in Asia, a moderated electronic newsletter (first issue released 28 February 2003) is provided by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center to share updates on disaster mitigation in Asia, including the latest information sources and analytical accounts of new approaches, methodologies, models, resources, and tools for disaster risk reduction. The e-newsletter is sent to almost 2,000 subscribers and invites questions from the readership, responses, and contributions. Items received will be posted in the next issue. Please send contributions to audmp@adpc.net or see the website at www.adpc.ait.ac.th/audmp/e-news/
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
PETER A. WILDERER RECEIVES STOCKHOLM WATER PRIZEPeter Wilderer is a professor at the Technical University of Munich and serves as the Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies on Sustainability. Dr. Wilderer has been awarded the 2003 Stockholm Water Prize for the development and demonstration of integrative management across the spectrum of fundamental research, applied research, technology implementation, and sustainable water management. He will receive the prize at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm on 14 August. By bringing scientists of different disciplines together to solve problems, and by communicating with the public, industry, business and public institutions, he demonstrated that decision making can be based on sound science and appropriate technology and result in sustainable water management. The Stockholm Water Prize is an annual international environmental award presented by the Stockholm Water Foundation in honor of outstanding achievements in science, engineering, technology, education, or public policy related to protection of the world's water resources. For more information, visit www.siwi.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
GLOBAL WIND POWER SETS RECORD IN 2002New wind power capacity increased by 28% worldwide during 2002, according to statistics recently released from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) as well as the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Global wind power has quadrupled over the past five years, growing from 7,600 MW (megawatts) at the end of 1997 to more than 31,000 MW at the end of 2002. Wind is the world's fastest-growing energy source, with Europe and the United States being responsible for more than 90% of the new capacity. Wind power currently meets 2% of total European electricity demand. Analysis by the EWEA shows that there are no technical, economic, or resource limitations for wind power to supply 12% of the world's electricity by 2020. For more information, visit the AWEA website at www.awea.org
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
PACIFIC INSTITUTE LAUNCHES WATER AND CLIMATE BIBLIOGRAPHYHow will climate change affect freshwater resources? In an effort to aid those studying this question and related issues, the Pacific Institute has created the Water and Climate Bibliography: a searchable online database containing over 3,000 references to books, articles, and other scholarly works. Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute, expressed the hope that this new tool will help those studying these critical problems to forge effective solutions. The project was funded by grants from the Dialogue on Water and Climate, the California Energy Commission, and the California Department of Water Resources. It is also available on CD-ROM. Researchers are encouraged to submit new citations for consideration using the online form, accessible from the main bibliography page at www.pacinst.org/resources/
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
In a complex and changing world, people need access to a collective information and knowledge base to help them find the best way forward and prevent them from making the same mistakes that others have made. The Streams of Knowledge (SOK) global coalition of resource centers was officially launched during the Second World Water Forum in The Hague during March 2000. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is funding the establishment of a foundation and secretariat over the next two years, with a chance for further funding for a third year. The secretariat of the SOK, currently based at the IRC International Water and Sanitation Center in Delft, will be transferred to one of the founding partners from the South, the Philippine Center for Water and Sanitation, during 2003. SOK brings together more than 120 resource centers active in the water and sanitation sector throughout the world. SOK's website contains further information, including a "toolbox" consisting of a set of downloadable tools. See the website at www.streamsofknowledge.net (from Source Bulletin).
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) has published the first worldwide press freedom index, which indexes countries according to their respect for press freedom. It shows that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 lowest-ranked countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The top end of the list shows that rich countries have no monopoly of press freedom. The index was compiled by asking journalists, researchers, and legal experts to answer 50 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations (such as arrests or murder of journalists, censorship, pressure, state monopolies in various fields, punishment of press law offenses, and regulation of the media). The list includes 139 countries. At the top of the list, four countries share first place: Finland, Iceland, Norway, and The Netherlands. To see where your country placed in this list, see the website at www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=4116
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
WANGARI MAATHAI WINS LANDSLIDE VICTORYProfessor Wangari Maathai, Coordinator of the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya, won a parliamentary seat in the 2002 national Kenyan elections. In overwhelming numbers, her constituents showed support for the ideals and principles she upholds. She outpolled her nearest challenger by 51 to one. She was also appointed Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environmental Natural Resources and Wildlife. Professor Maathai began the Greenbelt Movement in 1977 when she planted seven trees to celebrate Earth Day. She had just become aware of the devastating effects of deforestation in her country and approached government foresters arguing that to fight the encroaching desert, she would bring together hundreds of thousands of mobilized villagers all across the country to plant trees, which is what she did. Today, the Movement has 6,000 village-based nurseries run largely by women and has planted more than 20 million trees. Their efforts have transformed whole villages whose soils are again rich and fertile, as well as revolutionized the lives of women who no longer must travel long distances in search of firewood. Maathai has won several prestigious international environmental prizes. To read more about the Greenbelt Movement, see www.womenaid.org/press//info/development/greenbeltproject.html
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has just completed its Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 and beyond. Its goals will be to protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through ecosystem-based management; understand climate variability and change to enhance society's ability to plan and respond; support the nation's commerce, and serve society's needs for weather and water information. The plan promises improvements in the agency's ability to serve America in three critical areas: the environment, the economy, and public safety. The Strategic Plan can be viewed at the website at www.ogp.noaa.gov
Return to top of articles or to the ENSO Signal, Issue 23 Home Page.
