[Atmob-discuss] The Sun also Sets
Paul A. Valleli
valleli at rcn.com
Sat Feb 16 17:39:30 EST 2008
John,
I read the article you forwarded from the JPL
ambassador and the first error I picked up on was
the comment that weather follows the solar cycle.
This has been the worst myth ever propagated on the
subject and to settle the fact that good weather
data is only available for a little more than ONE
century. All other data is anecdotal and cannot be
relied on.
I remember horrendous snow drifts and snow banks in
the 1940's and 50's.
- but that was because I was a little tyke then and
not full grown until 1956 when we had a series of
fierce blizzards. One was on the day I was taking my
SAT's at BU. The tests were held anyway because the
subways were operating.
Anyway, NASA funded a series of Solar Research
satellites to study the question of radiation
balance and the connection just doesn't exist.
However, the best thermodynamicists believe that
when we hit the trigger point, most temperate zones
will go cold and overcast, followed by desert
conditions after much plant life is destroyed.
This is our generations' contribution, not our
ever-constant star.
I think it would be silly, IMHO, to wait to see if
the poles will freeze over 5000 years from now !
Paul
---- Original message ----
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:33:43 -0500
From: "Virginia Renehan" <vrenehan at gis.net>
Subject: Re: [Atmob-discuss] The Sun also Sets
To: "John Blomquist"
<jonb at net1plus.com>,<Atmob-discuss at atmob.org>
>Not sure if this post is in regard to my mention
of Earth Hour 2008 at last
>night's meeting. Yes, interesting article. I have
received comments from
>others about the controversial global warming
debate, the thrust behind
>Earth Hour '08. The point is regardless of
whether or not we prescribe to
>the global warming theory, I think we can all
agree that light pollution is
>a result of energy waste - and it is having an
increasingly deleterious
>effect on our night skies. Light pollution is
something we can and should
>champion against if we want to preserve the night
sky/natural environment
>for future generations - not to mention this
generation!
>
>Earth Hour 2008 www.earthhour.org is an
opportunity to encourage other folks
>to make the connection about energy waste, light
pollution and preservation
>of our night skies. If Earth Hour isn't your
thing. Go to National Dark
>Sky Week, which kicks off that same week
www.ndsw.org
>
>Clear Dark Skies,
>Virginia
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "John Blomquist" <jonb at net1plus.com>
>To: <Atmob-discuss at atmob.org>
>Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 11:07 AM
>Subject: [Atmob-discuss] The Sun also Sets
>
>
>Hi all;
> I found this message on the solar observers
group and thought, although
>it's a little lengthy, that with all the
discussion about global warming you
>might want to read it as well. It's very thought
provoking.
>
>John.
>
>
>> The Sun Also Sets
>>
>> By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday,
February 07, 2008
>4:20 PM PT
>>
>> Climate Change: Not every scientist is part of
Al
>> Gore's mythical "consensus." Scientists worried
>> about a new ice age seek funding to better
>> observe something bigger than your SUV the
sun.
>>
>> Related Topics:
>>
<http://www.ibdeditorials.com/FeaturedCategories.aspx?
>sid=1802>Global Warming
>>
>> Back in 1991, before Al Gore first shouted that
>> the Earth was in the balance, the Danish
>> Meteorological Institute released a study using
>> data that went back centuries that showed that
>> global temperatures closely tracked solar
cycles.
>>
>> To many, those data were convincing. Now,
>> Canadian scientists are seeking additional
>> funding for more and better "eyes" with which
to
>> observe our sun, which has a bigger impact on
>> Earth's climate than all the tailpipes and
smokestacks on our
>planet combined.
>>
>> And they're worried about global cooling, not
warming.
>>
>> Kenneth Tapping, a solar researcher and project
>> director for Canada's National Research
Council,
>> is among those looking at the sun for evidence
of
>> an increase in sunspot activity.
>>
>> Solar activity fluctuates in an 11-year cycle.
>> But so far in this cycle, the sun has been
>> disturbingly quiet. The lack of increased
>> activity could signal the beginning of what is
>> known as a Maunder Minimum, an event which
occurs
>> every couple of centuries and can last as long
as a century.
>>
>> Such an event occurred in the 17th century. The
>> observation of sunspots showed extraordinarily
>> low levels of magnetism on the sun, with little
or no 11-year cycle.
>>
>> This solar hibernation corresponded with a
period
>> of bitter cold that began around 1650 and
lasted,
>> with intermittent spikes of warming, until
1715.
>> Frigid winters and cold summers during that
>> period led to massive crop failures, famine and
death in Northern
>Europe.
>>
>> Tapping reports no change in the sun's magnetic
>> field so far this cycle and warns that if the
sun
>> remains quiet for another year or two, it may
>> indicate a repeat of that period of drastic
>> cooling of the Earth, bringing massive snowfall
>> and severe weather to the Northern Hemisphere.
>>
>> Tapping oversees the operation of a 60-year-old
>> radio telescope that he calls a "stethoscope
for
>> the sun." But he and his colleagues need better
equipment.
>>
>> In Canada, where radio-telescopic monitoring of
>> the sun has been conducted since the end of
World
>> War II, a new instrument, the next-generation
>> solar flux monitor, could measure the sun's
>> emissions more rapidly and accurately.
>>
>> As we have noted many times, perhaps the
biggest
>> impact on the Earth's climate over time has
been the sun.
>>
>> For instance, researchers at the Max Planck
>> Institute for Solar Research in Germany report
>> the sun has been burning more brightly over the
>> last 60 years, accounting for the 1 degree
>> Celsius increase in Earth's temperature over
the last 100 years.
>>
>> R. Timothy Patterson, professor of geology and
>> director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience
Center
>> of Canada's Carleton University, says that "CO2
>> variations show little correlation with our
>> planet's climate on long, medium and even short
time scales."
>>
>> Rather, he says, "I and the first-class
>> scientists I work with are consistently finding
>> excellent correlations between the regular
>> fluctuations of the sun and earthly climate.
This
>> is not surprising. The sun and the stars are
the
>> ultimate source of energy on this planet."
>>
>> Patterson, sharing Tapping's concern, says:
>> "Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the
sun
>> will be starting into its weakest Schwabe cycle
>> of the past two centuries, likely leading to
>> unusually cool conditions on Earth."
>>
>> "Solar activity has overpowered any effect that
>> CO2 has had before, and it most likely will
>> again," Patterson says. "If we were to have
even
>> a medium-sized solar minimum, we could be
looking
>> at a lot more bad effects than 'global warming'
would have had."
>>
>> In 2005, Russian astronomer Khabibullo
>> Abdusamatov made some waves and not a few
>> enemies in the global warming "community" by
>> predicting that the sun would reach a peak of
>> activity about three years from now, to be
>> accompanied by "dramatic changes" in
temperatures.
>>
>> A Hoover Institution Study a few years back
>> examined historical data and came to a similar
conclusion.
>>
>> "The effects of solar activity and volcanoes
are
>> impossible to miss. Temperatures fluctuated
>> exactly as expected, and the pattern was so
clear
>> that, statistically, the odds of the
correlation
>> existing by chance were one in 100," according
to
>> Hoover fellow Bruce Berkowitz.
>>
>> The study says that "try as we might, we simply
>> could not find any relationship between
>> industrial activity, energy consumption and
changes in global
>temperatures."
>>
>> The study concludes that if you shut down all
the
>> world's power plants and factories, "there
would
>> not be much effect on temperatures."
>>
>> But if the sun shuts down, we've got a problem.
>> It is the sun, not the Earth, that's hanging in
the balance.
>>
>>
>> NASA / JPL Solar System Ambassador
>>
>> Owner,
>> DayStar Filters LLC - www.DayStarFilters.com
>> ICSTARS Astronomy - www.ICSTARS.com
>> StarGarden Foundation -
www.StarGardenFoundation.org
>
>_______________________________________________
>Atmob-discuss mailing list
>Atmob-discuss at atmob.org
>http://lists.atmob.org/mailman/listinfo/atmob-discuss
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Atmob-discuss mailing list
>Atmob-discuss at atmob.org
>http://lists.atmob.org/mailman/listinfo/atmob-discuss
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.atmob.org/pipermail/atmob-discuss/attachments/20080216/3d459293/attachment.html
More information about the Atmob-discuss
mailing list