National Geographic sees the (lack of) Light
Cool news -- from this article at
National Geographic News:
Sun Oddly Quiet -- Hints at Next "Little Ice Age"?
A prolonged lull in solar activity has astrophysicists glued to their telescopes waiting to see what the sun will do next�and how Earth's climate might respond.
The sun is the least active it's been in decades and the dimmest in a hundred years. The lull is causing some scientists to recall the Little Ice Age, an unusual cold spell in Europe and North America, which lasted from about 1300 to 1850.
The coldest period of the Little Ice Age, between 1645 and 1715, has been linked to a deep dip in solar storms known as the Maunder Minimum.
During that time, access to Greenland was largely cut off by ice, and canals in Holland routinely froze solid. Glaciers in the Alps engulfed whole villages, and sea ice increased so much that no open water flowed around Iceland in the year 1695.
But of course, the AGW'rs have to weigh in (it's their job/grant monies on the line after all):
"[Global warming] skeptics tend to leap forward," said Mike Lockwood, a solar terrestrial physicist at the University of Southampton in the U.K.
He and other researchers are therefore engaged in what they call "preemptive denial" of a solar minimum leading to global cooling.
Even if the current solar lull is the beginning of a prolonged quiet, the scientists say, the star's effects on climate will pale in contrast with the influence of human-made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
"I think you have to bear in mind that the CO2 is a good 50 to 60 percent higher than normal, whereas the decline in solar output is a few hundredths of one percent down," Lockwood said. "I think that helps keep it in perspective."
Dr. Lockwood, I call bullshit on you. The effect of CO2 on the temperature is minimal at best. You all point to positive feedback causing a catastrophic "tipping point" when CO2 reaches a certain level but time after time, it has been shown that this Earth has a very powerful negative climactic feedback mechanism and that there is no "tipping point".
Right now, our CO2 is about 350 parts per million.
To visualize that, think of a decent size stadium -- one that seats 10,000 people.
If those 10,000 people represent our atmosphere, three and one half of those people will represent the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere.
It has been as high as 6,000ppm with minimal effect to our temperature.
Hat to to
Anthony for the link.
Posted by DaveH at May 5, 2009 1:41 PM