Posted on 04/22/2012 4:05:43 PM PDT by neverdem
The sun may be entering a period of reduced activity that could result in lower temperatures on Earth, according to Japanese researchers.
Officials of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation said on April 19 that the activity of sunspots appeared to resemble a 70-year period in the 17th century in which London’s Thames froze over and cherry blossoms bloomed later than usual in Kyoto.
In that era, known as the Maunder Minimum, temperatures are estimated to have been about 2.5 degrees lower than in the second half of the 20th century.
The Japanese study found that the trend of current sunspot activity is similar to records from that period.
The researchers also found signs of unusual magnetic changes in the sun. Normally, the sun’s magnetic field flips about once every 11 years. In 2001, the sun’s magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere, flipped to the south.
While scientists had predicted that the next flip would begin from May 2013, the solar observation satellite Hinode found that the north pole of the sun had started flipping about a year earlier than expected. There was no noticeable change in the south pole.
If that trend continues, the north pole could complete its flip in May 2012 but create a four-pole magnetic structure in the sun, with two new poles created in the vicinity of the equator of our closest star.
Thank you.
Paderewski, Chopin, Kociuzsko, & Pope John Paul II
Quick! Burn a Tire.
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Yeah, I read that too...we are so screwed, either the Obommer gets in or we git Mitts or the sun blows up...dang.
As if 40 million Poles on earth wasn’t enough!
that’s a fact.
Only if you also eat your peas. Pea plants fix nitrogen (which I didn't even know was broken!) so that they can convert more CO^2 into O^2 + C...which is why peas always carbonize when you let the pot boil dry.
That carbon from the carbonized peas can then be recovered (didn't really know that carbon was upholstered, let alone needed a new covering, either) to make more tires to be inflated with the now-repaired nitrogen.
I am amazed everyday at what I can learn & share just by reading Free Republic...it is well worth a small monthly donation!
The theory is that the sunspot level is an indicator of the strength of the solar magnetic field. When the solar field is strong, the earth is better shielded from cosmic ray particles (high velocity charged particles). Higher levels of cosmic ray particles promote cloud formation, resulting is less solar heating of the ground. So low sunspot level = low solar magnetic field = more clouds = lower temperatures.
Of course the whole notion is ridiculous, since everybody knows that the Earth's temperature is solely determined by the CO2 level.
Still there is that pesky correlation, where the Maunder Minimum of 1650-1700 coincided with the Little Ice Age, and similar cool effects happening during the Dalton Minimum, but that's just crazy talk.
Two of the four wear costumes and funny hats
Thank you for the explanation.
IPCC Director Rajendra K. Pachauri has in the past directed scientists to remove claims that the Sun changes from official UN climate reports.
Or the U-shaped Sporer, which had active cycles within an overall minimum.
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