Abstract
summerlike thunderstorms and lightning swamped the according to industry specialists, who indicate that the aircraft signal, leaving scientists to wonder how typi- future holds a steady increase in air traffic, it makes cal their sampling period was. understanding the effects of air travel on the global Since ozone at 35,000 feet cannot hurt your lungs climate increasingly important. or make your eyes water, why do scientists care about For more information on SONEX, visit the We b site air quality there? According to Thompson, when ozone at http://telsci.arc.nasa.gov/~sonex. gets that high up, it starts to act like a greenhouse gas Spacecraft Provides First Direct Evidence: and can contribute to global warming. Smoke in the Atmosphere Inhibits Rainfall "So knowing how airliners and rockets add to the picture is important for climate research," she said. For the first time, researchers have proven that In the end, Thompson said, the findings showed that smoke from forest fires inhibits rainfall. Their find- jet aircraft, which burn very "clean" fuel, probably ings, published in the 15 October issue of Geophysi- added a few tens of parts per trillion of nitrogen ox- cal Research Letters, are based on an extensive ides to the atmosphere. But the air that far up is so clean analysis of data taken from NASA' s Tropical Rain- that even such a small number of molecules could fall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft. mean an increase in nitrogen oxides of more than 20%, The study shows that the "warm rain" processes that Thompson said. often create rain in tropical clouds are practically shut For now, Thompson contends that ozone impacts off when the clouds are polluted with heavy smoke along the Atlantic corridor are too small to detect, but from forest fires. In these clouds, scientists found, the United States Ratifies the Convention of th e Worl d Meteorological Organization The President on May 4, 1949, ratified the Convention of the World Me- teorological Organization opened for signature at Washington on October 11, 1947, and a related protocol concerning Spain opened for signature at the same time. Advice and consent to ratification of the convention and related proto- col was given by the Senate on April 20,1949 . The United States instrument of ratification was deposited on May 4, 1949, in the archives of the Govern- ment, which is designated by the Convention as the depositary government. [ . . . ] Upon its entry into force the Convention will establish the World Meteorological Organization, the basic objective of which is to coordinate, standardize, and improve world meteorological activities and to encourage an efficient exchange of meteoro- logical information between countries in the aid of human activities. [ . . . ] As soon as the World Meteorological Organization comes into being, it will take place as one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations along with aviation, telecom- munications, and postal organizations dealing with problems of transport and communica- tions. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 30, 362-363 2632 Vol. 80 , No. 12,, December 1999
Journal
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
– American Meteorological Society
Published: Dec 1, 1999