Global Warming

Dude, it is winter.

Look at the record heatwave across Europe during this last summer.

What a maroon! (to quote Bugs Bunny)

 

basso, is the "b" in your moniker silent?

 

One of the predicted effects of climate change is rapid and severe swings in weather and of course, there will always be variability. Another set of predicted effects is that several times every winter conservative cartoonists will get a frame on the editorial page showing icicles dripping off some guys nose as he cracks some joke to his buddy about global warming and talk radio hosts will joke about global warming everytime it snows. These latter effects are part of a much larger phenomenon called "whistling past the graveyard."

 

actually, i think we're on a bobsled to hell that is the next ice age. how else could one possibly explain away these record cold temperatures across N. America without pointing to the sky falling and the most catclysmic events of all time!!?

 

Let's start devoting billions of dollars to preventing GLOBAL COOLING. Certainly this is a man-made phenomenon.

 

Basso your limited knowledge of our planets climate system is shocking. One would think you would do a little research before embarrassing yourself so publicly...

 

IIRC Jerry Fallwell had an interesting opinion of the color purple.

 

The only reason that the Earth is getting hotter (not a bad thing at all, ask the citizens of NYC right now!) is because the sun is entering a span of heightened sunspot activity. It is not because those evil industrial capitalist robber barons you liberals hate so much want to destroy the Earth. It is not because of anything we do.
link

link

 

Here's one of the articles...

Study links solar activity to Earth's climate

During a solar maximum, climate changes occur in North America, according to a recent study
April 13, 1999
Web posted at: 11:40 AM EDT






NASA researchers have found the link between solar activity and Earth's climate -- it was blowing in the wind.

Scientists had presumed for decades that activity on the surface of the sun and winds on Earth were related somehow but were missing a key ingredient, according to Drew Shindell, a climate researcher at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, N.Y.

What previous studies had neglected to take into account, according to Shindell's research published in the April 9 issue of Science, was the effect of increased solar activity on the ozone layer or the complex chemistry of the upper atmosphere.

"When we added the upper atmosphere's chemistry into our climate model, we found that during a solar maximum major climate changes occur in North America," said Shindell. The climate changes were being caused by stronger westerly winds. In addition, Shindell said wind speeds and directions all over the Earth's surface were influenced.

The sun has an 11-year cycle where it goes from a solar maximum to a solar minimum. The energy released by the sun during this cycle only fluctuates one-tenth of one percent.

When the solar cycle is at a maximum, it puts out a larger percentage of high-energy radiation, which increases the amount of ozone in the upper atmosphere. The increased ozone warms the upper atmosphere and the warm air affects winds all the way from the stratosphere to the Earth's surface.

"The change in wind strength and direction creates different climate patterns around the globe," said Shindell.

But what effect does this have on global warming?

None, said Shindell. His study confirms that changing levels of energy from the sun are not a major cause of global warming.

Many scientists have argued that the radiation change in a solar cycle — an increase of two to three tenths of a percent over the 20th century — are not strong enough to account for the observed surface temperature increases. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies model agrees that the solar increases do not have the ability to cause large global temperature increases, leading Shindell to conclude that greenhouse gases are indeed playing the dominant role.

 

That's hilarious rimrocker.

 

resisting the urge to quote Bill Murray from Ghostbusters...

 

To paraphrase Oski2000, who I believe was paraphrasing an old Seinfeld, the joke doesn't offend us as liberals, it offends us as comedians.

 

Yeah, I guess you're right, fo I surely don't get the humor in the other article you referenced...
___________
Solar activity reaches new high
2 December 2003

Geophysicists in Finland and Germany have calculated that the Sun is more magnetically active now than it has been for over a 1000 years. Ilya Usoskin and colleagues at the University of Oulu and the Max-Planck Institute for Aeronomy say that their technique - which relies on a radioactive dating technique - is the first direct quantitative reconstruction of solar activity based on physical, rather than statistical, models (I G Usoskin et al. 2003 Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 211101)

Sunspots are produced by magnetic activity inside the Sun. The more active the Sun is, the more spots are produced. Observations of sunspots began in 1610 - soon after the telescope was invented - and no other directly obtained data exists from before this time.

Now, Usoskin and co-workers have used the concentration of beryllium-10 in polar ice as a proxy for historic levels of solar activity. Beryllium-10 is produced when cosmic rays interact with particles in the Earth's atmosphere. The radioisotope then falls to the ground where it is stored in layers of ice. The Sun's magnetic field can deflect cosmic rays away from the Earth, so a stronger field should lead to less beryllium-10 being produced, and vice versa.

Using modelling techniques, the Finnish team was able to extend data on solar activity back to 850 AD. The researchers found that there has been a sharp increase in the number of sunspots since the beginning of the 20th century. They calculated that the average number was about 30 per year between 850 and 1900, and then increased to 60 between 1900 and 1944, and is now at its highest ever value of 76.

"We need to understand this unprecedented level of activity," Usoskin told PhysicsWeb. "Is it is a rare event that happens once a millennium - which means that the Sun will return to normal - or is it a new dynamic state that will keep solar activity levels high?" The Finnish-German team also speculates that increased solar activity may be having an effect on the Earth's climate, but more work is needed to clarify this.

 

Even though this cold snap is likely due to the solar flares, the effect of global warming will be to freeze the hell out of the North East and Europe (in the winters).

It is expected that global warming will cause the Gulf Stream to shut down (which it has done in the past). It's warmth is responsible for moderating winters in the Northeast, but esp. in Europe (are you aware that most of Europe lies at latitudes above New York?).

 

You're right... my apologies... it's that whole "ba" thing that gets me confused sometimes.