Assuming that the lack of sunspots will cool the earth, it couldnt have come at a better time.
On Oct 7, 3:31 pm, Dan Whaley <[email protected]> wrote: > Few weeks old... > > http://sj.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-gener... > > Sunspot drought to test global warming theory > MATT CAWOOD > 17/09/2009 1:32:00 PM > > EARTH is experiencing a sunspot drought which, if it persists, may > deliver a make-or-break test of the theory of anthropogenic global > warming (AGW). > > Along with a dearth of sunspots, NASA reports other signs of a current > lull in the sun’s activity, including a 50-year low in solar wind > pressure and a 12 year low in the sun’s brightness. > > Some scientists believe that these signs point to more than just a low > point in the 11-year solar cycle. The sun may be entering a “deep > solar minimum”. > > Previous solar minimums—the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1715, the Sp orer > Minimum of 1460-1550 and the Dalton Minimum of 1790-1830—coincided > with periods when Earth’s climate was colder than average. > > While the link between solar minimums and a dip in global temperature > isn’t fully established, some believe that a solar minimum over the > next couple of decades may be an acid test of whether greenhouse gas > emissions are the primary cause of Earth’s sudden warming. > > Among them is University of New England researcher Dr Robert Baker, > who has for several years been working on a theory that the sun is a > key driver of Australian rainfall. > > The Dalton minimum occurred around the turn of the 18th century, and > another minimum was recorded around the turn of the 19th century. > > If this roughly 100-year pattern repeats, Dr Baker believes we may be > in for another multi-decade minimum with correspondingly lower global > temperatures. > > “If we have a solar minimum and global temperatures continue to climb > over the next decade, it will have established carbon dioxide as a > potent force on the Earth’s climate,” Dr Baker said. > > “It’s going to be a very good scientific test of carbon’s real > effect.” > > Dr Baker says the sun’s influence on global climate is underestimated. > > He has for several years been tracking 11-year solar cycles against > the Southern Oscillation Index, with remarkable accuracy—until this > year, when the relationship suddenly fell apart. > > Dr Baker believes this may be because the solar minimum has overridden > the smaller cycles he’s been tracking. > > He is now working on a paper outlining a theory that the sun’s cycles > influence rain-bearing cloud over the Pacific Ocean. > > How much cosmic radiation enters the Earth’s atmosphere, and how far > it penetrates, in Dr Baker’s view largely depends on the polarity of > the sun and Earth’s magnetic fields. > > His idea is that when the Earth’s magnetic field has been neutralised > by negatively-charged particles from the sun, certain forms of cosmic > radiation enter the atmosphere and encourage plankton development in > the oceans. > > Plankton give off dimethyl sulphide, which is regarded as a potent > agent of cloud nucleation—that is, water molecules cluster around the > compound to the point that rain droplets are formed. > > Other forms of radiation in other cycles kill off plankton, Dr Baker > believes, inhibiting cloud formation. > > Dr Baker says he has found a relationship between these processes and > the El Nino-La Nina cycles. > > In its review of Sun-Earth interactions, the Intergovernmental Panel > on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledged that the sun influences Earth's > climate patterns, but determined that human influences are now > overriding those from the Sun. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
