Posted on 04/17/2010 12:38:21 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Continental Europe and Britain are likely to see more unusually cold winters like last season due to low solar activity, according to a new study by British and German researchers published on Thursday.
Their work showed that periods of quieter sun activity influenced atmospheric conditions, creating a blocking effect against warm Atlantic air that would normally reach the region, resulting in colder winters.
The meteorological changes affect the jet stream above the region, rerouting the usual mild westerly winds and allowing cold and dry wind to gust over Europe adding to an overall lower temperature.
The study said that conditions even suggest an eight percent chance that a chilly Maunder minimum-like era could occur once again.
But the scientists insisted that their findings did not disprove the theory of climate change.
We stress that this is a regional and seasonal effect relating to European winters and not a global effect, the study said, adding that results presented here indicate that, despite hemispheric warming, the UK and Europe could experience more cold winters than during recent decades.
To reach this conclusion, the UK researchers incorporated data from the Central England temperature (CET) record, which dates back 351 years, with sun activity data put together by the Max Planck specialists.
Director the Institute for Solar System Research there Sami K. Solanki said he used magnetic field measurements to measure sun activity, but because these records date back to just 1900, researchers reconstructed older levels with the help of computer simulations.
The connection between sun activity and the cold winter in Europe was only recognisable after we calculated out the overlaying trend of global warming, Solanki said in a statement.
External link: See the study here »
The Local (news@thelocal.de)
This escapes all reason. Why would a change in solar activity be only a regional effect? Why, of course, we might stop worrying about "climate change" if we thought the whole world was going to cool off.
LOL.
no doubt.
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