Global warming' is a phrase that refers to the effect on the climate of human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and large-scale deforestation, which cause emissions to the atmosphere of large amounts of 'greenhouse gases', of which the most important is carbon dioxide. Such gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and act as blankets over the surface keeping it warmer than it would otherwise be. Associated with this warming are changes of climate. The basic science of the 'greenhouse effect' that leads to the warming is well understood. More detailed understanding relies on numerical models of the climate that integrate the basic dynamical and physical equations describing the complete climate system. Many of the likely characteristics of the resulting changes in climate (such as more frequent heat waves, increases in rainfall, increase in frequency and intensity of many extreme climate events) can be identified. Substantial uncertainties remain in knowledge of some of the feedbacks within the climate system (that affect the overall magnitude of change) and in much of the detail of likely regional change. Because of its negative impacts on human communities (including for instance substantial sea-level rise) and on ecosystems, global warming is the most important environmental problem the world faces. Adaptation to the inevitable impacts and mitigation to reduce their magnitude are both necessary. International action is being taken by the world's scientific and political communities. Because of the need for urgent action, the greatest challenge is to move rapidly to much increased energy efficiency and to non-fossil-fuel energy sources.

Using measurements from two instruments on the Nimbus 4 satellite comparisons between ozone concentration and temperature have been made at levels near Imb during an occasion of stratospheric warming.High correlation exists between ozone concentration and temperature. Good agreement has been found with a photochemical model which incorporates ' classical ' oxygen photochemistry together with reactions involving OH.

SUMMARYAircraft observations of the absorption of solar infra-red radiation by the atmosphere are compared with values of integrated absorption predicted from laboratory measurements on water vapour and carbon dioxide. Aircraft observations of bands due to OL, CO, CHI and N 2 0 are also considered. A scheme is derived for computing, for different latitudes and seasons, the heating-rate due to the absorption of solar infra-red radiation at altitudes between 10 km and 40 km. The results of such computations are presented.

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The stratospheric and mesospheric sounder (s.a.m.s.) instrument was launched on the Nimbus G satellite on 24 October 1978. It is designed to measure temperature and concentration profiles of various gases in the height range 20-100 km by detecting either their thermal emission or, in some cases, resonant scattering of sunlight. The gases selected, CO 2 , CO, CH 4 , NO, N 2 O and H 2 O, significantly affect the upper atmosphere energy budget by their influence on the concentration of the primary sunlight absorber, ozone. This influence is disproportionate to their own concentration because of the existence of 'catalytic cycles’ which destroy ozone while regenerating the catalyst. A description of the instrument, its principles of operation and some of the methods of retrieval used is presented, together with some preliminary results from the first 3 months of operations.