Ecoinformatics Problems of Global Climate Change - New Ecoinformatics Tools in Environmental Science: Applications and Decision-making - page 379

(global system of land surface observations), IGOS (Integral Global Observational
System), and others. In fact, a single global observational system is needed in the
interests of NSS dynamics monitoring, containing the problem-oriented units based
on substantiation of priorities. The most important aspect of substantiation of such a
system is an optimization of relationship between the use of conventional and
satellite observational means. In this connection, there is no doubt that multi-billion
expenditures on creation of the EOS system consisting of three satellites equipped
with complexes of the most up-to-date instrumentation have turned out to be not
properly justi

ed (Goody 2002).
2. The role of biospheric dynamics as an interactive component of climate
system.
The fact of biotic regulation of the environment still has not been acknowledged
(Kondratyev et al. 2003d, 2004b), though the Amsterdam Declaration re

fl ects a

substantial progress achieved in this direction. The first step in this direction should

be an interactive consideration of global carbon cycle instead of a-priori prescrip-
tion of arbitrary scenarios of changes of CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere
(Krapivin and Varotsos 2008).
3. Greenhouse effect.
With tremendous importance attached to anthropogenic changes of the atmo-
spheric greenhouse effect as the most important climate-forming factors, the
absence in the COPES programme of a section specially dedicated to these prob-
lems seems a paradox. Therefore, some contradictory opinions appear about the
contributions of various components of the greenhouse effect to the formation of
global climate. So, for instance, Hansen et al. (2002) believe (though one should
note that opinions of this group of specialists sometimes suffer sudden changes),
that since there is an approximate mutual compensation of RF of different signs due
to carbon dioxide and aerosol, the consideration of contribution to the atmospheric
greenhouse effect enhancement, determined by the growth of methane concentra-
tion, is of major importance for the prognostic RF values. On the whole, it is
necessary to take into consideration all GHGs effects and to take into account the
speci

c characteristics of water vapors, methane, ozone, carbon dioxide, nitrous
oxide, etc.
4. Atmospheric aerosol and clouds.
In view of a more important role of atmospheric aerosol and clouds in the RF
formation (and, hence, climate change) compared to MGCs, the respective prob-
lems should attract much more serious attention (Kondratyev 2005). It means, in
particular, a necessity of the aerosol-cloud sector in the COPES programme. The
same refers to the problems of “ atmospheric ozone (both stratospheric and tropo-

spheric) and climate ” (Braesicke and Pyle 2004; Kondratyev and Varotsos 2000;

Friedrich 2001).
The basic conclusion made by Kondratyev et al. (2006a) about the mechanisms
of formation and properties of atmospheric aerosols is that existing climate models
are still far from being adequate. This situation is especially substantial in the
context of consideration of aerosol as one of the most important climate-forming
factors. On the one hand, it is obvious that an interactive consideration of aerosol,