Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh, and right on the heels of Earth Day! Seems there might be another nail in the coffin of Global Warming. This one comes from the lack of sunspots.
Why is that a problem? According to the editorial by Geophysicist Phil Chapman from the Australian:
...The sunspot number follows a cycle of
somewhat variable length, averaging 11 years. The most recent minimum
was in March last year. The new cycle, No.24, was supposed to start
soon after that, with a gradual build-up in sunspot numbers.
It didn't happen. The first sunspot appeared in January this year
and lasted only two days. A tiny spot appeared last Monday but vanished
within 24 hours. Another little spot appeared this Monday. Pray that
there will be many more, and soon.
The reason this matters is that there is a close correlation between
variations in the sunspot cycle and Earth's climate. The previous time
a cycle was delayed like this was in the Dalton Minimum, an especially
cold period that lasted several decades from 1790.
Northern winters became ferocious: in particular, the rout of
Napoleon's Grand Army during the retreat from Moscow in 1812 was at
least partly due to the lack of sunspots.
That the rapid temperature decline in 2007 coincided with the
failure of cycle No.24 to begin on schedule is not proof of a causal
connection but it is cause for concern.
In another editorial along the same lines, See Gore, See Spot, "former NASA astronaut [Chapman--also author of first piece] says the same solar phenomenon that doomed Napoleon's army may soon stop Al Gore's march to glory cold. Prepare for the big chill."
Of course it is too soon to know, but keeping an eye on the sunspot activity this year might be a better predictor of where you want to spend your winters when you retire than anything we have seen so far! Some scientists poo-poo the sun spot theory entirely. Only time will tell.
Links: 4th Annual Weed Out, May 3rd, Mary Knoll Park
Brookfield7,
Fairly Conservative,
Betterbrookfield,
Vicki Mckenna
