El Niño has grown more intense
Recent studies of ancient coral reefs have yielded evidence that
the intensity of the weather phenomenon known as El Niño
peaked in the last 100 years.
These findings are relevant to the ongoing debate regarding the
harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming on
the environment.
In an article published Jan. 26 in Science Magazine, researchers
from UC Santa Barbara and Scotland disclosed their findings from
research conducted in coral reefs off the coast of New Guinea.
Analysis of the isotopic and chemical variations in the reefs,
which date back 130,000 years, revealed that the intensity of El
Niño during the ice ages was about 50 percent weaker than its
present intensity.
However, researchers are hesitant to jump to conclusions from
these findings.
“Everyone wants to know if the intensity of these large
events is somehow related to global warming,” said David W.
Lea, co-author and professor of geological sciences at UCSB.
“Our data suggest that the behavior of the tropical Pacific
over the last 100 years is atypical, but it does not permit which
factors modulate El Niño.”
Chancellor sends out advice on conservation
Chancellor Albert Carnesale released an information bulletin
Tuesday explaining UCLA’s response to the California energy
crisis and urging the community to conserve power.
The UCLA Cogeneration Plant produces approximately 85 percent of
the power used on campus; the remainder is supplied by the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is not experiencing
critical power shortages.
Though UCLA is unlikely to experience the rolling blackouts
occurring in other parts of the state, Carnesale said that
conserving energy is still a worthwhile goal.
Carnesale said UCLA has initiated several campus-wide energy
conservation measures including a re-lamping program that will cut
lighting fixture electrical usage by 25 percent and renovations to
make heating and air conditioning systems more
energy-efficient.
He asked the campus community to implement the energy
conservations measures, including setting thermostats to 68 degrees
or below for heating.
Supervisors call for chromium consultant
The Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to hire a water
consultant to come up with a plan to eliminate chromium 6 and other
contaminants from Los Angeles County’s drinking water.
The board’s unanimous action also calls on the state to
lower the legal limit for chromium to 1/40th of the current
standard, and to add chromium 6 to the list of regulated
substances.
The state Department of Health Services has been examining the
issue for about a year, and the vote serves as “an incentive
to try to speed up things,” said Cam Currier, spokesman for
Supervisor Mike Antonovich.
Airborne chromium 6 causes cancer when inhaled, but experts
continue to debate whether it is carcinogenic in drinking
water.
Concerns over chromium 6 have increased since the release of the
movie “Erin Brockovich,” based on the real-life account
of a woman who exposed contamination in a California desert
town.
The job of the consultant, whom the public works department must
hire within 30 days, will be to work with local, state and federal
officials to ensure Los Angeles County water is safe, Currier
said.
Testing of 44 county wells supplying drinking water showed
levels of chromium 6 up to 88 times the suggested state limit.
Compiled from Daily Bruin wire reports.