January 14, 1997

Climatologists rank 1996 as the fifth-warmest year ever recorded in global terms, even though North America and Europe were unusually chilly for much of the year; hold that 1990's remain the warmest decade on record, with 1980's second; some scientists demur, saying rise in temperature last two decades is too small to be statistically significant; those who do see a rise do not expect any global warming due to emission of greenhouse gases to be smooth and continuous; say heavy precipitation like that experienced by Americans in Northeast and Northwest in 1996 may be a consequence of global warming; map (M)

Federal program Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, while successful in New Jersey, is imperiled because of lack of financing nationwide (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Charles R Buckley seeks to deflect criticism over his announcement of case against four Ridgewood teen-agers accused of gang-raping 14-year-old girl on Dec 20; Buckley says he did not issue news release concerning arrests until Jan 9 because he was concerned that publicity might interfere with investigation (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Under the glare of intense publicity, lawyers began picking a jury to hear the case of a man accused of raping and killing 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death spurred a nationwide movement to alert communities when convicted sex offenders move to their neighborhoods.

Business Digest for January 14; stories include record net investment of $223 billion last year for mutual funds that buy stocks