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The Meteorological Administration’s Challenge To NASA

Posted February. 14, 2005 22:37,   

한국어

The Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA, Administrator Shin Kyung-seob) thrust a challenge at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which forecasted this year would be the warmest since weather observations started being made in the late 1800s.

The KMA announced, “We cannot say positively about NASA’s forecast, because in the first half of this year there is not much possibility of a strong El Nino, which raises temperatures, and it is hard to even predict what will happen in the latter half of this year,” objecting to the statement of Dr. James E. Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, that 2005 would possibly be warmer than 1998 (a global mean temperature of 14.59 degrees Celsius), which recorded the highest temperature in the 20th century.

“The Earth’s Energy Imbalance Theory, on which Dr. Hansen’s assertion is based, has not been verified by the academic world yet,” said Park Jeong-gyu, manager of the climate forecast division.

Park also said, “Although it is true that recently a global mean temperature has a tendency to rise, it does not necessarily imply a rise in summer temperatures and hot weather.” “Rather, the rise in the annual mean temperature would make atmospheric temperatures declining due to the cooled earth’s surface by an increase in evaporation and the subsequent shower,” he added.

In particular, the Korean peninsula is seen as having no relationship with the ups and downs of the global mean temperature. That is why it is not very possible that this summer in Korea might be hottest than any other year before, even though 2005 would be reported as the warmest year.



Jong-Dae Ha orionha@donga.com