Charles Osgood looks up and wonders
Very cool - CBS's Charles Osgood is looking at the Climate and
noticing the strange state of our Sun.
CBS� Charles Osgood on the Sun - and a surprising suggestion
The Osgood File. I�m Charles Osgood.
I know you�ve already got a lot to worry about as it is, but something rather odd is going on � on the Sun.
The Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity � and last year, it was supposed to have heated up � and, at its peak, would have a tumultuous boiling atmosphere, spitting out flares and huge chunks of super-hot gas.
Instead, it hit a 50-year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity. Right now, the sun is the dimmest it�s been in nearly a century.
Did you know that? It�s true. Astronomers are baffled by it, but has the press covered the story? Hardly at all. Is the government doing anything about it? No, it�s not even in the Obama budget or any Congressional earmarks.
But, sooner or later, I bet it will turn out to be our fault � yours and mine. And in Washington, where everything is political, they�ll note that it began before President Obama took office � perhaps �another example of the failed policies of the Bush Administration.�
At an upcoming meeting of astronomers in the United Kingdom, they�ll be studying new pictures of the Sun taken from space, looking for any hint that the Sun will start heating up again and acting up again, the way it�s supposed to. But there is no sign of that, so far.
In the mid-17th Century, there was a quiet spell on the Sun � known as the Maunder Minimum � which lasted 70 years, and led to a mini-Ice Age here on Earth.
Right now, global warming is a given to so many, it raises the question: Could another minimum activity period on the Sun counteract, in any way, the effects of global warming?
Hush, child! You�re not even supposed to suggest that. The only thing that can change global warming is if we human beings � we Americans, especially � completely change our ways and our way of life.
I�m sure you�ll be hearing more about this solar dimming business, now that the story is out. Remember, you heard it here first�
The Osgood File. Transcripts, podcasts, and Mp3�s of all these programs can be found at theosgoodfile.com. I�m Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
Hat tip to
Anthony Watts who found this little gem of sanity...
Posted by DaveH at April 21, 2009 9:37 PM