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| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Life on Mars?
From the time Mars was discovered, people have been wondering whether there is life (not necessarily humans, even animals or plants) on Mars. This will take another turn with the latest discovery of the European Space Agency (ESA). According to ESA, an image taken from the Mars Express Spacecraft shows the Martian north polar ice cap with layers of water, ice and dust in perspective view. It reveals cliffs which are almost two kilometres high. The dark material in the cliffs in the caldera-like structures and dune fields could be volcanic ash, the scientists say. This has once again led scientists to believe that there was and could even still be life on the planet. To find out more details ESA scientists are now considering to launch a new European mission to the Red Planet to take samples. ########### Earth is hotting up
While climate events like El Nino (when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean) affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants play a big part. There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, say NASA scientists. Carbon dioxide, emitted by autos, industry and utilities, is the most common greenhouse gas. NASA scientist Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than what gets reflected back to space. That extra energy, together with a weak El Nino, is expected to make 2005 warmer than 2003 and 2004 and perhaps even warmer than 1998, which had stood out as far hotter than any year in the preceding century, NASA said in a statement. Many climate scientists say that floods, storms and droughts will become more frequent and that climate change is the most severe long-term threat to the planet's life support systems. Rising temperatures could force up ocean levels, swamping coasts and low-lying Pacific islands and drive thousands of species to extinction by 2100. The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively. Short-term factors like large volcanic eruptions that launched tiny particles of sulphuric acid into the upper atmosphere in 1963, 1982 and 1991 can change climates for periods ranging from months to a few years. Last year was the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, says NASA. Average temperatures taken from land and surfaces of the oceans showed that 2004 was 0.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 Celsius) above the average temperature from 1951 to 1980, according to Hansen. The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said. Source: Reuters |
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According to NASA scientists, a weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse
gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in
the late 1800s. 
