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Accession Number:
ADA247279
Title:
Global Climate Change (GCC) Issues and Their Impacts on the US Army Corps of Engineers
Descriptive Note:
Special rept.
Corporate Author:
ARMY TOPOGRAPHIC ENGINEERING CENTER FORT BELVOIR VA
Report Date:
1991-11-01
Pagination or Media Count:
138.0
Abstract:
This report is a survey of recent findings and arguments within the scientific arena on the subject of global climate change. The focus of this report looks at global, continental, and regional issues, as well as surface and upper atmospheric effects. Potential responses by the biosphere as well as the impacts on Army operations by global climate change are examined. The geologic past provides a detailed record of Earths climate system. It also reveals changes that took place in the concentration of atmospheric gasses as Earths climate switched from glacial to interglacial periods. The secular record of temperature shows that Earths climate has warmed from 0.5 C to 0.7 C this past century. The worlds populace is injecting tremendous amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere at a rate where the effective doubling of pre- industrial carbon dioxide CO2 concentration could occur between the years 2035 to 2050. Clouds have been found to have a net cooling effect on the global average temperature. Anthropogenic pollutants and gasses produced from biological sources may increase the amount of clouds around the world, thus adding to the cooling effect. Aftereffects of volcanic eruption, and gasses emitted by phytoplankton that lead to cloud formation retard global warming. Weapon and support systems may require upgraded data bases to match vegetation changes due to evolving climate patterns.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
