NOAA science story tips -- AAAS 20...(that are poorly understood and may be he...)

• Aerosols (airborne particles) absorb both energy from the sun and infrared radiation from Earth. Fossil fuel and biomass burning are primary sources of heat-absorbing aerosols.

• These same aerosols indirectly affect Arctic climate by changing cloud properties, especially the amount of infrared heat given off by wintertime and springtime clouds.

• Soot, or black carbon, deposited on snow accelerates springtime snowmelt by absorbing light and heat.

• Ozone in the lower Arctic atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas, directly affecting radiation in the region.

Called ARCPAC (Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes Affecting Arctic Climate), the airborne mission is part of the International Polar Year 2008 research activities.

NOAA Researchers Use Cold War Era Radiocarbon Traces to Find Fish Ages
Connie Barclay, NOAA Fisheries, (301) 713-2370 x 144

Researchers at NOAAs Alaska Fisheries Science Center are finding trace radiocarbon (C-14) from Cold War nuclear bombs in the ear bones of fish, and turning this artifact of nuclear testing into a timestamp for determining fish ages.

Researchers have used traces of C-14 to confirm the ages of Pacific Ocean perch from the Gulf of Alaska, and have proven the method to be important information for fishery stock assessment and management. Alaska Fisheries Science Center researchers plan to apply the method to other fish species.

During the height of the Cold War in the late 1950s to early 70s, the United States, Russia, and other countries exploded enough above-ground nuclear bombs to raise the amount of C-14 in the atmosphere and in the surface layers of the ocean. C-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years. After the increase from the test bombing, C-14 has been decaying slowly in the environment, giving scientists a benchmark level for each year. '/>"/>