今年的“厄尔尼诺”有可能成为世纪之最

近6个月来,太平洋的热带水域一直在扩散,从国际日期变更线蔓延到了南美洲沿海。气象学家对此一直非常关注,密切跟踪着它的变化,因为这就是能够在大气和海洋中翻云覆雨的"厄尔尼诺"现象。而且,有迹象表明,眼下的"厄尔尼诺"现象正在积蓄力量,有可能在未来的几个月内给世界天气带来巨大的变化。热带风暴频频造访墨西哥、智利和秘鲁,使之大雨不断,澳大利亚和印度尼西亚干旱少雨......科学家认为,种种迹象表明,强大的"厄尔尼诺"已经左右了世界天气。本年度的"厄尔尼诺"很可能使本世纪所有的"厄尔尼诺"相形见细。它对热带洋面的影响范…     

Economics of alternative energy sources

An important part of the oil and natural gas at present consumed in the UK is used for the heating of buildings, a demand which shows large diurnal, day-to-day and annual fluctuations. The replacement of this energy by nuclear-generated electricity, as at present envisaged, would require the construction of some 250 GW of additional capacity by the end of the century, a progamme which does not seem feasible. By incorporating relatively cheap, short term storage in the form of low-grade heat, the generating capacity required to fulfil peak demand could be reduced by more than 50%. As soon as such storage is provided, however, other sources of energy become viable and attractive alternatives, and the UK is well situated to make use of wind, wave, and tidal power. It seems likely that the value of North Sea oil/gas reserves as feedstock to the chemical industry will rise sufficiently to make an early reduction in their consumption as fuel of great economic importance.     

Fe/Cr(001)超晶格层间耦合和自旋极化的第一性原理计算

采用基于密度泛函理论的平面波赝势法对Fe／Cr（001）起晶格的层间耦合和自旋极化进行了系统地研究．结果表明：理想Fe／Cr超晶格的层间耦合随反铁磁Cr层层数的增加呈短周期性振荡；在较稳定的结构中，整个Cr层都以较大的磁矩被极化，且极化程度受铁磁层原子数的影响较大．     

南极伊利莎白公主地250年来NO-3浓度变化特征研究

利用1996～1997年中国首次南极内陆冰盖考察获得的50m雪芯资料,详细研究了南极伊利莎白公主地250年来NO -3 浓度变化特征.结果表明:在250年尺度上,本地的NO -3 浓度具有明显的季节变化特征.250年来,伊利莎白公主地NO -3 浓度与太阳活动没有相关关系,认为本地的NO -3 可能主要来源于中低纬度地区的闪电和极地高空中的各种大气过程,雪冰中记录的NO -3 浓度可能是其来源、传输路径和沉积过程的综合反映.     

A carbon- and oxygen-isotope record of recent environ- mental change from Qinghai Lake, NE Tibetan Plateau

An understanding of natural climatic variability is essential for evaluating anthropogenic impacts on recent and future climate[1—3]. Due to the lack of lengthy instrumental records, such an understanding must be gained from natural archives of climate change. Palaeolimnological indicators of past lake levels may provide a sensitive record of changes in effective precipitation in closed basins. This approach is particularly relevant on the Tibetan Plateau, where instrumental records are very…