A couple weeks back I read about a scientist who theorizes there’s an alternating cycle of warming and cooling of the sun that corresponds with the ice ages and thaws of the Earth. He feels this same cycle may be responsible for global warming, and says he sees a similar warming on Mars. (Unfortunately I didn’t bookmark the links and don’t have time to Google it right now.)
Environmentalists and other scientists, of course, shot it all down.
Today it’s come out that there is some unexplained activity on the sun (including photos and video here). Where scientists expected a calm region, they’re finding massive jets and unusual activity (they even describe it as “impossible”).
Here’s my questions:
1) Is it possible these are part of the cycles causing global warming? I’m not a scientist, so I have no idea.
2) Even if 1 is not the case, then this demonstrates the sun is doing things we do not understand. And if we don’t understand the sun and the things it is doing, then how can we accurately discredit the guy with the global warming theory?
Now, whether he’s right or wrong doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be changing our pollution habits and our impact on the environment; these things cause more problems than global warming. I just find it interesting when scientists latch on to a theory and refuse to deal with evidence to the contrary.
on Mar 23rd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Hi, just read your blog about this subject. Just a week ago I wrote about this subject.
Two Danish scientists, Henrik Svensmark and Eigil Friis-Christensen, suggested in 1996 that it is changes in the Sun’s magnetic field, and not the emission of greenhouse gases, that has led to recent rises in global temperatures.
According to the Danish theory, charged particles from the Sun deflect galactic cosmic rays (streams of high-energy particles from outer space) that would otherwise have ionized the Earth’s lower atmosphere and formed clouds. In other words: cosmic radiation is influencing the forming of clouds and thereby influencing our atmosphere. Moreover, they believe that global warming may just be part of a natural cycle in the Earth’s temperature.
The theory is supported by findings presented by Svensmark, of the Danish Space Research Institute, in a paper published in the Physical Review Letters. Svensmark found long-term correlations between cosmic rays and the Earth’s temperature, concluding that cosmic radiation fluctuations were related to cloud cover. “Clouds are important to the Earth’s energy balance, ” says Svensmark, “but there are still many aspects of the relationships that need clarification. If the sun does influence our climate as we believe, it means that processes originating in the formation of the Milky Way affect the climate.”
Just wanted to share it with you!
Also check out this documentary from Brittish Channel 4 called “The Great Global Warming Swindle” that looks at evidence and views that contradict the general consensus.
(see: http://www.vandegoor.com/archives/506-The-Great-Global-Warming-Swindle.html)