The Environment Show #137, 1992 August 16

Hello friends, it's the Environment Show and welcome.
The actual rate of global warming may be going undetected because of excessive amounts of
air pollution.
The cast of characters includes one volcano, smoke stacks, and the industrial revolution
will have the story.
Also this time, another in our occasional series of group portraits, Renew America,
crossing into Maine, the expedition sees or smells, first hand, an environmental crisis.
Some of the stories straight ahead on the Environment Show we hope you'll stay with us.
The Environment Show is a national production made possible by the J.M. Kaplan Fund of New
York and by Heming's Motor News, the national Bible of the Old Car Hobby, monthly from Bennington
Vermont, and this is Bruce Robertson.
We've seen cooling of over one degree Fahrenheit in about the last year over the Northern
Hemisphere.
Roy Spencer at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Spencer is a space scientist using remote sensing satellites to measure temperature and precipitation
on Earth.
He says one degree might not sound like much of a change.
So if you like hot weather, most likely you have been disappointed this summer.
Most regions around the nation have registered record cold temperatures and rainfall amounts.
Consider yourself fairly adaptable though if you feel disappointment only over a cold summer.
As we hear in a moment, a cold summer once may have been a factor in a bloody revolution
and the overthrow of a powerful government.
Back to the summer of 1992, given this global temperature change, Spencer, whose business
it is to study weather data all the time, is interested now more than ever.
First of all, I should point out that we've found, at least from our satellite data, which
covers the last 13 years or so, that usually what happens over the United States does not
reflect what is happening on a global basis.
However, this year has been different.
We've found that the Northern Hemisphere has been cooling rapidly since the Mount Pena
Tubo eruption of over a year ago.
And in fact, the US has also been cooling over the last several months, or actually North
America, all of North America.
So in this case, what has been happening over North America has reflected a Northern Hemisphere
trend as well.
So though we have heard this unofficially, all season, it is now clear.
Spencer says the weather pattern changes, likely stem from the June 10th, 1991, volcanic
eruption of Mount Pena Tubo on the Northern Philippine Island of Luzon.
We're reasonably sure that this is the cause.
Since Pena Tubo erupted in June of 1991, the Northern Hemisphere temperatures have been
steadily falling, and especially in the face of an El Niño, which we just had over the
last, oh, half a year or so, which usually leads to quite warm conditions.
That has barely showed up, even though we had a fairly strong El Niño.
The warming was quite weak, and we think it's just being completely overshadowed by this
cooling from the Pena Tubo aerosol cloud.
It's something that we'll never know for sure, but it's certainly a very likely culprit
at this point.
All right, so what is the story here?
Well, it turns out there is more than just a volcano and a cool summer at issue.
El Niño, a warming of South Pacific Ocean waters, affects cycles of evaporation and precipitation,
both at sea and along the west coasts of North and South America.
Heavy rain in Texas and heat in Washington and Oregon this summer are the result of El Niño,
observers say.
On the other hand, sulfuric acid droplets formed from volcanic gases, such as from Pena Tubo,
have the effect of cooling Earth, says Stephen Schwartz.
Schwartz, a scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, is author of a recent
study on the effects of aerosols and their light scattering properties, a clearer explanation
of this in a moment.
First, Schwartz provides some background information.
The current atmosphere that we live in is the troposphere.
That extends from the surface up to maybe 12 or so kilometers, high-flying jet aircraft,
commercial jet aircraft, or flying just about at the top of the troposphere.
Then above that, you have the stratosphere.
The stratosphere is normally quite free of particles that haze the characteristics of the
troposphere.
But when you have a massive eruption, such as you did at Pena Tubo, roughly a year ago,
that puts mainly sulfur dioxide and relatively insoluble gas into the stratosphere.
Once material is put into the stratosphere, it resides there for quite a long time.
Years are more, depending on the altitude.
And sulfur dioxide can get oxidized to the sulfuric acid, as you mentioned.
And this sulfuric acid forms small particles, which are light scattering.
They scatter a small fraction of sunlight away from the planet.
To imagine this, you might think of car headlights shining through fog, or a flashlight shining
through smoke.
The light is diffused, deflected, and decreased, so too with the sunlight.
Some of it bounces from these sulfuric acid droplets or aerosols back into space.
Schwartz says, though these aerosols gradually dissipate, admitting more and more sunlight
again, this process generally takes several years.
During this time, a great deal can happen, as was the case on at least one occasion described
by Schwartz in the following story.
Benjamin Franklin, when he was in Paris in the 1780s, related how there was a whole
summer that it just never got warm, never got bright and sunny.
And this is related to a volcanic eruption in Iceland that was taking place.
It has very interesting implications, because it's led to a lot of unrest, especially among
the farmers and the people who didn't have enough food to eat, and was one of the contributing
factors to the French Revolution.
Though volcanoes have been clouding the skies with sulfuric acid eruptions since long before
the beginning of human history, since the start of the industrial revolution, there has
been a new factor, sulfuric acid pollution from fossil fuel combustion, human sources.
Now you might think, compared to the polluting force of volcanoes, human sources of atmospheric
pollution are negligible.
But two leading differences between volcanic and human source sulfuric acid indicate otherwise,
and here our story begins to take shape.
First, volcanic acid is lofted high into the stratosphere, and usually in one eruption or
one episode.
It is thus not having much of an immediate effect on whether closer to the ground.
But says Schwartz,
The big difference is that this anthropogenic sulfur dioxide that's creating aerosol
sulfate in the troposphere, the lower part of the atmosphere, is that this is not episodic.
This is something that's been going on continuously and relatively uniformly increasing over the
industrial period, over a period of time comparable to the period of emissions of carbon dioxide
that's leading to the enhancement of the greenhouse effect.
Now naturally occurring gases and dust particles in the atmosphere are critical to absorb sunlight
and heat, regulating earth's temperatures.
On the one hand, some incoming ultraviolet sunlight is blocked before it reaches earth's
surface, cooling the planet.
Some bounces off the surface of the planet, radiating back towards space as infrared light.
This escaping infrared light is absorbed by the dust particles and gases, creating a
glow and warming the planet.
In fact seen from space with infrared sensors, Schwartz says, the planet actually glows,
much the way our electric stove burner glows when heated.
However says Schwartz,
What we've done, we human beings, energy users, energy consumers, burning fossil fuel,
as we've put a substantial amount more of carbon dioxide and infrared absorbing gas in
the atmosphere than what was there before industrial times, who've increased the carbon
dioxide concentration in the atmosphere by about 25% over pre-industrial values.
So what is the message from Pinedubl?
Perhaps this.
We walk down a country road along a city street, in our backyards or at the seaside, and
we breathe the air, no doubt scarcely thinking how perfectly it is, mixed with life-sustaining
gases and at the right temperature.
Unlike the absolute cold of stellar space or the cauldron of the molten sun, here we have
no need for insulation or heat shields.
Yet could it be that by our human intervention we are changing the way the sunlight reaches
us, could it be, for example, that sulfur dioxide we have pumped into the troposphere all these
years of industrial activity, has been turning into sulfuric acid droplets deflecting sunlight
in just the same way they do at the higher stratosphere when lodged thereby volcanic activity?
Could it be these particles actually have been cooling the earth all this time, keeping
us from feeling the full effects of global warming?
Speculating on these questions from his laboratory at Brookhaven, Stephen Schwartz says,
Our best estimate is that the sulfate aerosol is offsetting perhaps half, perhaps as much
as three quarters of the greenhouse warming from CO2 and other anthropogenic greenhouse
gases.
If that's correct, then what it really means is that the greenhouse effect is a lot
worse than what would be inferred from the temperature record.
Stephen Schwartz, observing the atmosphere from his post at Brookhaven National Laboratory
up in Long Island.
We also verified the cooling as reported by space scientist Roy Spencer at NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.
Those living in areas cooler and wetter this summer will be interested to know that Spencer
says there is a better than 50 percent chance.
We will have a colder and wetter winter season.
This is Bruce Robertson.
Whether it's logging in the Pacific Northwest or a search for fossil fuels or wetlands protection,
one of the most heated debates facing the nation today is whether a healthy environment
can walk hand in hand with a healthy economy.
The answer is yes.
According to the 1992 Environmental Success Index, published by Renew America, the index
cites nearly 2,000 examples of organizations successfully improving the environment.
Renew America is an organization that works to find solutions to environmental problems.
John Jester, Director of Publications for Renew America, explains the purpose of the
index.
One to let people out there know that there is some positive stuff being taken by many
people in government and business and on the grassroots community level.
There are steps being taken to improve and enhance the environment.
I think a lot of times people are overwhelmed by the amount of negative environmental news
that hear through the media.
One of our goals is to get these success stories out into the media and thereby into the public
eye.
Another goal is to get these success stories into the hands of people who are interested
in starting similar programs and thereby facilitating new programs all across the country.
The index has been an annual publication since its birth in 1990.
Only expecting 400 applications that first year they received over a thousand.
Jester says the applications are critiqued in three ways.
First of all, does this program effectively enhance, protect or restore the environment
in a significant way.
Secondly, we look at the replicability of the program.
Can this program be reproduced in communities around the nation?
Third of all, we look at the financial feasibility of the program.
Is this program going to be around in a year from now as far as financial resources go?
So those are the three criteria that we look for.
These programs are all verified through state contacts groups, hundreds of state contact
groups that we work pretty closely with all across the nation in order to get information
about the programs.
We go to these groups and they tell us what they think about them.
The programs also must submit references to us, three of which must be nonprofit groups.
And we also use the references as well to verify the programs to verify that they are working
and effective.
The directory is divided into 20 categories from air pollution to drinking water protection
to hazardous materials reduction.
Jester cites one group from the surface water and wetlands protection category.
One of the more interesting ones is called the search writer foundation, which is out
in San Clemente, California.
And it's a nonprofit grassroots organization.
And they say they are dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's waves and beaches
through conservation, research, and education.
And basically it's made up of surfers, whimmers, beach goers, and concern to ocean lovers.
They, for example, the Surfwater Foundation has won the largest clean water act lawsuit in
US history in September of 1991.
They, that was brought against two pulp mills, pulp and paper mills in Humboldt County,
County, California that were charged with over 40,000 violations of that law.
So they're really doing some good things.
Besides litigation, they do a lot of education about coastal and marine resources.
Renew America does stay in touch with each of the programs to check on their progress.
Though they are unable to lend financial support directly to each organization, the index
has prompted contributions.
I'm sure any one of these organizations would tell you that the amount of publicity and
support that they receive by being published in the index is overwhelming and really helps
them out a lot.
For example, one program in Maryland is a land acquisition and farmland protection
program.
The people have told us that recognition in our environmental success index has really
made a difference for them because it's a county-run program and funding is really tight
in the county.
And by being listed in our book, it's said to the supervisors of the county that this
program is a national model and it deserves to be funded.
Jester hopes the index will grow by leaps and bounds on a yearly basis as it has for
the past two to three years.
John Jester is director of publications for Renew America.
The Environmental Success Index is available through Renew America in Washington, DC.
And this is Bruce Robertson.
In private journal notes on June 12, Environmental Economist Sabina O'Hara wrote of the mounting
tension and security as heads of state arrived in Rio de Janeiro for the grand finale of
the Earth Summit.
For her, it was time to leave the toughest negotiating now complete.
But was it all worth it?
While packing her bags and saying goodbyes, she wrote analytically.
If you mean by the treaty sign, was it worth it?
Mostly no.
But the conference resulted in agreements more important than international treaties.
There were agreements amongst new friends from around the world, friendships that will
be the real promise and legacy of the summit.
I bump into my Bangladeshi friend from the climate negotiations.
We hug, we promise to write.
On my way to the computer room I run into a member of the delegation from Libya, a climate
scientist I met on the bus a few days ago.
Wix changed cards.
We'll stay in touch, she says.
As I walked toward the parking lot I see my new friend from Chile, hugs through the
car window of a taxi.
Am I disappointed with the conference?
Was this huge gathering called the Earth Summit?
No, I'm not.
Frustrated maybe, but not disappointed.
The official treaties and agreements reached certainly do fall short of what many myself
included had hoped for.
But they are a start.
They recognize the global dimensions of our environmental problems.
They acknowledge the threats to whole ecosystems, regions and future generations, all be it
in carefully crafted language.
Rio is not the end as the treaties stay open for future ratification.
It is a beginning and my biggest concern is that it will take us another 20 years as
after the last United Nations Environment Conference to take the next steps to more
competition and implementation.
With blind fish and wildlife due to the effects of ozone depletion being found on the southern
hemisphere of our globe, with Africa suffering the effects of global change in the form of
a desert growing several miles annually, with more than 100 species lost daily, with millions
starving while other suffer from habits of overeating, we don't have another 20 years
to think about what we might do next.
But then there are the other things that happened in Rio.
The networking, exchanging information, taking home piles of printed material, taking home
the stories, the personal encounters, the plans for taking the next steps.
This is, I believe, where the changes will come from, and this is where the urgency needs
to be communicated.
It will have to come from us.
So am I optimistic?
No, not really, but I am hopeful against all odds.
As I say goodbye to some Brazilian friends, I know that that is what the future of these
treaties is all about, to grow to know each other, to grow to be open and to learn from
each other, and from the wisdom our Earth carries.
And maybe, just maybe.
It is through this process that we will be healed from our hang-ups, from the suffering
of human starvation, in body and spirit, and from the destruction we cause by doing and
by doing nothing.
Sabina O'Hara, an environmental economist, represented the United Methodist Church
and the World Council of Churches at the Earth Summit.
This was the final entry of her journal notes from Rio.
This is Bruce Robertson.
With less than a month to go on the trail, the expedition has encountered some of the
harshest conditions yet.
The Sierra Club Centennial Appalachian Trail Expedition is now in and over Maine.
Since April and the start of the epic journey, we have been charting their progress.
Joining us on the line now is Tersh Palmer, on trail coordinator of the expedition.
Tersh you are so close to the end now.
Are you going to make it?
Well, we are not really being physically challenged at this point.
It's more of a psychological thing.
It's more like just having to get up every day and hike is, gets more difficult just
because you know we've been doing so long and really is more like a job than it was
in the beginning.
It was more of a challenge at first.
But Maine is a beautiful state.
It's also very wet, so we're dealing with, for example, yesterday when we were going
over Bald-Pate Mountain, we in the middle of a rain storm and the wind was probably about
50 miles an hour and we were climbing up a fairly steep bear rock face.
You'd reach up and get a handhold and the water would come off the rock and dribble down
your arm into your clothes, things like that.
Very unpleasant.
We didn't spend much time on top of that mountain because it was very cold and the rain
was sort of coming out of sideways, it was actually stinging as it hit.
So we are dealing with some adverse weather.
Today is a very pretty day hot and humid which is unusual for Maine.
Tersh we remind our listeners that this expedition is in celebration of 100 years of activism
by the Sierra Club with less than a month to go on the trail now.
Have you been able to keep things in perspective and remind yourself why you're doing this?
Certainly.
We've seen, you know, we've, the purpose of the hike has been to draw people's attention
to various environmental issues along the trail corridor and we've certainly seen a lot
along the way.
You know, trees dying in the smokies and the Shenandoas and in this area, this is a big
pulp industry area and so you can actually smell the sulfur dioxide in the air and the
other environmental issue here is, of course, logging which has been a mainstay for employment
in Maine for years and years but it's kind of dying out now because the forests won't
sustain the volume of logging that they've had in the past.
So we tried to keep up with local environmental issues and we do see a lot of the progress
problems that reflect problems in the larger environment along the trail.
Teresh Palmer, on trail coordinator of the Sierra Club Centennial Appalachian Trail
Expedition, speaking to us from and over Maine and this is Bruce Robertson.
And that's our report on the Environment Show this week.
We hope you enjoyed the program.
The Environment Show is a program about the environment, the air, water, soil, wildlife
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Program number 137, the Environment Show.
The Environment Show is a presentation of national productions solely responsible for
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Dr. Alan Shartock, Executive Producer and this is Bruce Robertson.
The Environment Show is made possible by the JM Kaplan Fund of New York and by Heming's
Motor News, the National Bible of the Old Car Hobby, monthly from Bennington Vermont.