Cicerone: large effect in 50 years Combined, the increases in methane, ozone, and other trace j*ases, including carbon dioxide, should have caused enough of a warming over the past 100 years to now be detectable. The authors suggest that temperature records don't reflect this because the oceans have acted as a sink for the added heat. How long the oceans will continue to buffer temperature increases is unknown. The study by Ramanathan, Cicerone, Hanwant B. Singh of SRI International, and Jeffrey T. Kiehl of NCAR "should change the way people look at the global warming problem," EPA's Hoffman says. D
Panel tells Senate binary arms needed A commission appointed by the President to review U.S. chemical warfare policy told a Senate committee last week that the current stockpile of chemical weapons should be destroyed and replaced with binary chemical arms because they are safer and will facilitate arms control. Commission chairman Walter J. Stoessel Jr. reported this conclusion to the Senate Armed Services Committee a mere six weeks after the commission was formed. In contrast, the Scowcroft commission, a Presidential panel convened to advise
about MX missile production, took John E. Porter (R.-Ill.) that suggestthree months to file its report. The ed former Rep. Ed Bethune (R.-Ark.) composition and objectivity of the be named commission chairman. In commission, as well as the brevity Congress, Bethune was a critic of of its deliberations, were among binary production. Stoessel said he didn't know of this letter. (As many issues raised at the hearing. There, Sen. Gary Hart (D.-Colo.) expected, Fascell and Porter called claimed that the commission's con- the commission's findings predictclusions were preordained. "Virtu- able and unconvincing.) Other troublesome issues have ally every member was on record as supporting" binary arms production, been raised about the commission's he said. Even Sen. Sam Nunn (D.- work by Congressmen not at the Ga.), who is a staunch defense and, hearing. Fascell, chairman of the more specifically, binary weapons House Foreign Affairs Committee, supporter, said the conclusions implies that the commission may would have been more "credible" not have heard complete informahad there been known opponents tion. According to Fascell, a firm of the program on the commission. that does consulting work for the Nunn's comments followed ques- Defense Department was hired by tioning by Sen. Carl M. Levin the commission to assess European (D.-Mich.) on the balance and open- attitudes on binary weapons. The mindedness of commission mem- firm delivered its testimony to the bers. Levin specifically asked Stoes- commission in closed session in midsel whether he knew of an earlier April, but is scheduled to travel to letter to the President from Rep. Europe this month to gather inforDante B. Fascell (D.-Fla.) and Rep. mation to make this assessment. D
Wolfgang Hilger to head Hoechst Wolfgang Hilger, 55, will be the new chairman of Hoechst, the international chemical giant headquartered in Frankfurt, West Germany. He takes over from Rolf Sammet at the company's annual general meeting on June 4. Hilger, an inorganic chemist, has been Hoechst's deputy chairman for the past three years. He joined the company in 1957, the same year he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from the University of Bonn. During his career with Hoechst, Hilger was involved mainly in its inorganics and fertilizer activities. Moving up through a variety of positions, he took over as head of the inorganic chemistry division in 1969. He was appointed to the management board in 1974. For Hilger, the timing for his taking over the Hoechst leadership is both good and difficult. On the plus side, the company has chalked up the best returns in its history, with global sales last year of almost $14.55 billion, and net income of $474 million ($1.00 = 2.85 deutsche marks in 1984). This upward momentum has continued through this year's first quarter when sales amounted to
$3.57 billion, up 8.7% from the same period a year ago, and pretax profit rose 29% to nearly $272 million ($1.00 = 3.09 deutsche marks on March 29). On the other hand, chemical companies, particularly those in Western Europe, face a number of uncertainties. For example, raw material prices are on the increase, overcapacity of many of the commodity petrochemicals is a continuing problem, there is growing concern about the arrival on world markets of products made in the Middle East, and, should the dollar continue to weaken, products made in Europe will lose some of their competitive edge in dollar trading areas. Sammet, 65, who will move to Hoechst's supervisory board, joined the company in 1949 with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stuttgart University. He has been chairman since 1969. In the intervening 16 years, he has seen global sales increase 358%, and net profit advance 225% from their respective 1969 levels of $3.18 billion and $146 million (calculated at 1984's currency exchange rate). D May 6, 1985 C&EN
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