Posted on 07/29/2006 12:33:22 PM PDT by Pikamax
'Global dimming' is darkening the globe: experts Updated Sat. Jul. 29 2006 10:07 AM ET
Andy Johnson, CTV.ca News
Global dimming may be the yin to global warming's yang.
The theory is that the amount of sunlight, or solar energy, falling on the earth has been dropping steadily over the past 50 years or so.
That could mean, scientists believe, that global dimming is actually mitigating the effects of global warming.
That sounds quirky and intriguing at first, but a closer investigation turns up some frightening results.
One of the first people to observe the phenomenon was an English scientist named Gerry Stanhill, according to the BBC.
Stanhill was studying Israel's sunlight records from the 1950s to the present, when he discovered a sharp decline of 22 per cent.
Sensing that he was on the cusp of something big, Stanhill began looking at similar sets of records from all over the world, and found strikingly similar results.
In the U.S., the decline was 10 per cent, in parts of the former Soviet Union it fell by a frightening 30 per cent, and in parts of the U.K. sunlight dropped by as much as 16 per cent in some areas.
Overall, the drop averaged out to between one and two per cent for each decade from the 50s forward.
Stanhill published his results in 2001, but they were met with skepticism by his colleagues.
However, it turns out that a geography researcher named Atsumu Ohmura at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology had turned up a set of similar data in the mid-1980s.
At that time, Ohmura found that solar radiation hitting the earth had fallen by more than 10 per cent in 30 years.
"I was shocked. The difference was so big that I just could not believe it," he told the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper.
Both sets of figures, though they received little recognition in the scientific community, indicate that sunlight was becoming extinct.
But by the mid-1980s, evidence already showed the planet was heating up. So suggestions that solar radiation was on the decline were almost laughable, and Stanhill and Ohmura were largely ignored.
In 2001, however, Stanhill and another researcher, Shabtai Cohen at Israel's Volcani Centre began gathering all the research together.
They proved that on average, the earth had experienced an annual drop in solar radiation from 0.23 to 0.32 per cent between 1958 and 1992.
That woke up some scientists who began to question why the earth seemed to be getting hotter if sunlight is declining.
The answer is fascinating. Global dimming seems to be caused by air pollution. As pollutants from vehicles, factories, power plants and the like make their way into the atmosphere, they carry with them tiny particles such as ash and soot compounds.
Those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth, and the greater the presence of these particles, the greater the effect on the amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface.
The phenomenon can be witnessed when a volcano erupts, sending massive amounts of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere. They can cause a strong, temporary cooling of the earth.
Scientists also believe particle pollution has an impact on the composition of clouds.
Because particles seed water droplets within clouds, polluted clouds contain more water droplets than they would otherwise. The more water droplets a cloud contains, the more sunlight it reflects back into space.
That theory has scientists hypothesizing that dimming is also effecting rainfall cycles by shielding the world's oceans from the full effect of the sun, and reducing evaporation.
There are even suggestions that dimming has helped bring on droughts and monsoons in the Sahara and Asia.
And the most alarming possible effect of dimming is that it may have offset the full effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect.
Dr. Peter Cox, one of the world's top climate modellers, told the BBC that could be very bad news.
He expects CO2 levels in the earth's atmosphere -- which acts as the fuel for the greenhouse effect -- to continue to rise in the years to come.
Meanwhile, the world's industrial nations seem to finally be reining in particle pollution. Ironically, that could be the catalyst that speeds up global warming.
"We're going to be in a situation, unless we act, where the cooling pollutant is dropping off while the warming pollutant is going up," Cox said. "That means we'll get reduced cooling and increased heating at the same time, and that's a problem for us."
I thought this was a story about declining IQ levels...
It is.
Therefore, it is very important that we do nothing to change our pollution levels.
If we do,
So the globe is actually dimming and it's due to pollution?
Okay - then it's interesting to note that of the nations studied, the US had the LOWEST amount of sunlight lost. Interesting considering I've always been told we're the dirtiest country.
algorejr must be crying his eyes out. Stop the volcanos now!!!
I thought globull warming was caused by cleaner air causing more sunlight to hit the surface of the plannet.
What a gas! Where do they think the heat comes from? A black hole?
Global Dhimmi-ing makes more sense to me.
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Not where I am.
Take your expopsure samples over a wider global area before you say,"Global" to your dimming/
Aaaaaaugh!
It's headed right for us!
Better sell my stock in sunglasses companies.
Whatever the merits of "global warming", it has certainly led to an increase in the levels of people trying to get government grants.
Well, somebody had to post it...
When asked how could they possibly do that without the ship incinerating from the intense heat, they proudly stated that they would be traveling at night........
anyways... the Sun has entered a brighter phase for around the next 13 years.... if the world gets darker... won't it also get colder?
It's Bush's fault?
Someday everyone on this world right now, will-in fact- be dead. It is a true crisis.
See? This is the kind of thing that makes me opposed to much of any action at all. The geomechanics of global heating and cooling are so poorly understood that any actions may lead to completely unforeseeen consequences.
It Is. Low IQ levels indicated by "man-made Global warming."
Well, isn't it?
About a year ago, I heard about 'global dimming.' About six months ago, I heard that 'global dimming' had been met and conquered. Global dimming, global warming, abrupt climate change, melting ice-caps, raised sea levels, threatened coastlines, and all such predicted disasters seem more and more to be a part of the left's 'crisis cult.' After twenty years, we should re-evaluate those claims. And, if true, we should take serious steps to remedy those problems. And, if untrue, we should round up those claiments and see to it that they are held up to severe public ridicule. How else can we get scientists to practice science, rather than consensus and public opinion?
Not to worry, the third world cesspools of the world are meeting the challenge with increased polution!
Could it be that the particles not only reflect sunlight coming in but thermally reflect infrared radiation going out therefore increasing the efficiency of the sunlight that does strike the earth?
Warm shade anyone? 8>)
Funny how our atmosphere affects the temperature on all the plants in the solar syatem.
Bah, I read last year that the atmosphere was clearing up now. Just like liberals they gotta have it both ways. And yes I did leave that wide open...
Ya know, funny thing is, we are all gonna die anyway, sooner or later. I mean, nobody gets out of this life alive.
Not me. I plan to live forever.
So far, so good.
bump
LOL!
Good luck to you!
I've noticed this dimming phenomenon every night around 8:30pm. I'm glad to know I'm not crazy.
I was hoping to live forever but I once at a lot of carrots. It has been proven that anyone who ever ate a lot of carrots eventually died.
Beat me to it.
Yeah, my grandfather once told me that eating was about the most expensive addiction there was, and I should stop doing it before it killed me.
A 10% decline in the sunlight hitting the earth would turn the planet into an iceball. Sorry, doesn't add up.
Couple it with this guy a few days ago.... Scientist: Inject Sulfur into Air to Battle Global Warming http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1673322/posts
So we have a brighter sun heating up the troposphere, pollution reflecting increased UV light off, and mild warming....
Global Dhimming: What the Islamists want
Global Domming: The world is taken over by the Mafia
Global Dharming: Everybody will soon be forced to watch episodes of "Dharma and Greg" over and over again
Global D'hoing: Homer Simpson takes over the world
Global Doodying: Everybody out of the pool! Now!!!
The guy on the right is more disgusting...
The theory is that the amount of sunlight, or solar energy, falling on the earth has been dropping steadily over the past 50 years or so.Last I checked, the sun's patterns were at a peak! Sun's direct role in global warming may be underestimated, Duke physicists report.
That could mean, scientists believe, that global dimming is actually mitigating the effects of global warming.In the same way that turning a furnace down "mitigates" the effect of having it turned up. Could it be that it is cause and effect?
That sounds quirky and intriguing at first, but a closer investigation turns up some frightening results.QUIRKY? FRIGHTENING? These are the adjectives to describe an observation that doesn't fit with "consensus"?
Global dimming seems to be caused by air pollution. As pollutants from vehicles, factories, power plants and the like make their way into the atmosphere, they carry with them tiny particles such as ash and soot compounds.It looks to be another "pollution is the answer" article. Of course, recall the article from not too long ago stating that, since pollution is declining, localized warming is on the increase.
The phenomenon can be witnessed when a volcano erupts, sending massive amounts of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere. They can cause a strong, temporary cooling of the earth.As El Rusbho hath explained before.
And the most alarming possible effect of dimming is that it may have offset the full effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect. Dr. Peter Cox, one of the world's top climate modellers, told the BBC that could be very bad news. He expects CO2 levels in the earth's atmosphere -- which acts as the fuel for the greenhouse effect -- to continue to rise in the years to come.Yes! Environmentalists are killing us, because they're making us clean up the air, and then, and only then will we learn the true extent of our failures, and we will weep to be so alone, as the flesh melts from our bodies.
Meanwhile, the world's industrial nations seem to finally be reining in particle pollution. Ironically, that could be the catalyst that speeds up global warming.Good is bad. Bad is good. Amen.
You know, if you look at that thing long enough, it looks like the panic borders are actually spreading.
Considering some of the things I hear people say about global warming, I'd be inclined to agree with that thought. They don't know whether they're coming or going.
ROTFLOL!!!
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