UPDATE: Even the Huffington Post is now allowing doubts about global warming to be posted. Wonders will never cease.
The global warming discussion has drawn attention to the sunspot cycle, which seems to be approaching a Maunder Minimum. This is a possible explanation for the warming and cooling cycles that have affected the earth for at least 250,000 years and possibly for millions of years.
Now, a new phenomenon that is probably related has been discovered. The Solar Wind is decreasing.
“The average pressure of the solar wind has dropped more than 20% since the mid-1990s,” says Dave McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “This is the weakest it’s been since we began monitoring solar wind almost 50 years ago.”
The measurement of Solar Wind is a recent development of the Space Age.
“What we’re seeing is a long term trend, a steady decrease in pressure that began sometime in the mid-1990s,” explains Arik Posner, NASA’s Ulysses Program Scientist in Washington DC.
How unusual is this event?
“It’s hard to say. We’ve only been monitoring solar wind since the early years of the Space Age—from the early 60s to the present,” says Posner. “Over that period of time, it’s unique. How the event stands out over centuries or millennia, however, is anybody’s guess. We don’t have data going back that far.”
Another event has occurred that may add more information about what is happening. The Voyager spacecraft are about to leave the Heliosphere. They are very close to the limits and the Heliosphere is shrinking as the Solar Wind loses strength.
Some of most dramatic effects of the phenomenon may be felt by NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft. After traveling outward for 30+ years, the two probes are now at the edge of the heliosphere. With the heliosphere shrinking, the Voyagers may soon find themselves on the outside looking in, thrust into interstellar space long before anyone expected. No spacecraft has ever been outside the heliosphere before and no one knows what the Voyagers may find there.
The phenomenon we are witnessing may be far more important than global warming, which has been grossly exaggerated for political reasons.
Tags: global warming, heliosphere, Ice Age, solar wind, Voyager spacecraft
I think something is up, and the next five or ten years will be quite different than we expect.
But not to worry, Dr. K. The debate is over, after all.
Hello again Dr. K and Eric, long time no see/hear/post to or from you guys.
Apologies for another threadjack but I just wanted to drop by to wish you all a terrific 2009 (assuming we’re not all fried to a crisp by global warming, of course) and I hope you don’t mind if I note that I’m looking forward to your upcoming comments at my new place.
Also Dr. K, I wanted to say, thank you again for your assistance with helping me find work this past year, it’s not forgotten but it’s truly appreciated. I thought you’d be interested that I have since obtained work at a State facility (irony alert, I know) which you may have heard of. If you want, feel free to e-mail and I’ll be happy to provide more details… but long story short, I’m actually working with some of the patients.
And finally, here’s my response to the good doctor at Patterico today:
http://patterico.com/2008/12/31/patterico%e2%80%99s-los-angeles-dog-trainer-year-in-review-2008/#comment-440894
Anyhoo, best wishes to everyone, and I’m looking forward to your posts in the new year. Maybe we can even get Eric to finally start up his blog. 🙂
The annoying aspect of the global warming crowd is the posturing that the opposition are flat-earthers. As though the earth is a giant petrie dish over which global warmers exercise absolute control. They may be right, but their certitude is indefensible. Of course, nobody knows as of yet.
Eric, thanks for drawing my attention to the story. I don’t know what is going to happen but ice ages can develop very rapidly, a matter of decades, and that would focus everyone’s attention quickly.
Steve, best of luck and let’s keep in touch.
Oh, don’t worry, Dr. K. The smart boffins who think the debate is over want to try large scale solutions to the global warming that has been leading to the cooler temperatures we have been experiencing the past two years:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climate-scientists-its-time-for-plan-b-1221092.html
The only good news is that I doubt we can do much damage with the egotistical “geoenginering” in question.
I swear, they would be carrying on if glaciers were sliding through Minneapolis.
And nice to hear from you, qdpsteve! Looking forward to seeing your blog updated. It’s been a while!