Posted on 09/01/2008 6:43:44 AM PDT by gobucks
I’ve been looking at the sunspot number almost daily.
I’m honestly concerned about this situation, as I’ve written before.
The foolish who keep trying to maintain that the Sun has minimal effect on our weather may soon wish they hadn’t laughed at me and those like me.
Cycle 23 is now 147 months long, and still counting.
The few cycle 24 spots that have appeared thus far don’t change that count at all.
The previous 5 cycles averaged 125 months long.
This cycle IS longer than any we’ve had since 1950 - and length of cycle DOES correlate highly with the Earth’s temperature. Minimizing the importance of this solar cycle does a disservice to people.
i believe that the sun spots have a dramatically influence on our planet.
but i don’t have any expertise in this area.
I don’t think it is sunspots in themselves ... I suspect that they are indicators of magnetic and electric (and irradiance) influence of the sun. In addition, there are studies that have been done that suggest there is a higher correlation of Earth’s weather (climate) with solar cycle LENGTH than with the number of sunspots. Why? Who knows... the field is still developing.
Here’s a link to a good, accessible paper about the subject, though there are many others that are more technical, and flesh out the data:
http://www.tmgnow.com/repository/solar/lassen1.html
thanks.
i understand that much—that the sunspots are indicators of magnetic and electric influence of the sun.
the most prominent feature is the interruptions that we have cyclically in our radio signals.
i especially liked the concluding phrase that human activities were not distinguishable in the data!
After a mild November, December through March will be cold and snowy, with temperatures about two degrees below normal, on average. The coldest temperatures will occur in early and mid-December, early and late January, and early and mid-February. The biggest snowstorm will occur in early January, with snow likely in time for Thanksgiving and frequent snowfall in December and mid-February.
WHAT A JOKE!!! They just described EVERY winter here.
For one thing, the last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February are statistically the coldest weeks of the year anyway. That's a safe prediction if I ever heard one.
For another, big snowstorms are more likely in early winter when there's more moisture in the air to make snow.
I'd be more impressed if they were more specific.
I wonder if there were any other 30 day periods of solar inactivity. Making a big deal about it because it happened to coincide with our calendar doesn’t impress me when there could have been longer periods of solar inactivity that just didn’t happen to fall within a very specific time frame.
[Article Update, Sep 1 2008. After this story was published, the NOAA reversed their previous decision on a tiny speck seen Aug 21, which gives their version of the August data a half-point. Other observation centers such as Mount Wilson Observatory are still reporting a spotless month. So depending on which center you believe, August was a record for either a full century, or only 50 years.]
See, It’s still AGW as usual, nothing to see here, move along...
The prediction of below normal temperatures is the key.
Stevo also compares only 3 years of the current minimum to the total for previous minimums.
Note: this topic is from 9/01/2008. Thanks gobucks.
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