The Sun’s magnetic funk continues

4 11 2009

I’ve looked at the Ap Index on a regular basis, as it is an indicator of how active the solar dynamo is. When we had sunspot 1029 recently, the largest in months, it gave hope to many that Solar cycle 24 had finally started to ramp up.

From the data provided by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) on November 2nd, you can see that October 2009 had little Ap magnetic activity. The value is now 3 for the month. Here’s my graph from October 2009 SWPC Ap data:

Ap_index_Oct09

Click to enlarge

Leif Svalgaard points out to me another indicator of low solar magnetic activity. Bill Livingston was able to observe sunspot group 1029, and measure its magnetic field and contrast. Leif’s graph with my annotation for group 1029 is below. By itself, this one sunspot group isn’t significant, but it does fit into a prediction made by Livingston and Penn. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 164 Comments »

Categories : Science, solar

Arctic warming goes with the floe

4 11 2009

Past Arctic Warming Also Created by Currents

Guest posted by Jeff Id of The Air Vent

Image: Met Office UK

The bear is fine, don't freak out. Image: Met Office UK

I’ve stated here on several occasions that the ‘Recent’ Arctic ice thinning is more likely a current change issue rather than a temperature issue.  Differences in flow change the transfer of vastly more energy than a couple of degrees of air temp, however changing air temperatures are a strong indicator of differences in regional water flow.  This effect is very visible in the arctic ice videos posted here.  Recently Dr. Arnd Bernaerts asked by email that I call attention to  his paper on Arctic Warming for a period we don’t hear about enough.  He has a shorter version link which he also gave here. I really enjoy the historic discussions of climate and the paper is quite readable so I’ve put the whole paper up instead.

——————

The Circumstances of the Arctic Warming in the early 20th Century

Author: Arnd Bernaerts

Dr. Arnd Bernaerts
Hamburg, Germany

Abstract

The Arctic has a crucial role in the world’s climatic system, and global warming may have an amplifying effect. The recently observed thinning of the sea ice has alerted scientists and policy makers alike. That was quite different when a similar warming occurred 90 years ago, which is still regarded as one of the most puzzling climatic event during the last century. That needs not to be, if the situation is being viewed from on oceanic perspective, together with the fact that the winter air temperatures in the higher Northern Hemisphere are greatly influenced by the ocean, particularly in the North Atlantic, which is partly free of sea ice up to the Fram Strait. Here also ends the West Spitsbergen Current, a current which supplies the Arctic Ocean with warm and saline Atlantic water. Already back in 1920s air temperature observation showed a strong warming at Spitsbergen during the winter season. By analyzing the winter temperature profile of five coastal stations it can be demonstrated that the climatic shift at the end of the 1910s had been closest to Spitsbergen, allowing the conclusion that circumstances related to the West Spitsbergen Current have caused the early Arctic warming almost a century ago. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 54 Comments »

Categories : Arctic, sea ice

US Chamber of Commerce reverses stance

4 11 2009

PRESS RELEASE Contact:

Christine Hall, 202.331.2258

CEI-logo

U. S. Chamber Caves to Special Interests on Energy-Rationing Legislation

CEI Invites Small Businesses to Join With CEI to Fight Kerry-Graham

 

Washington, D.C., November 4, 2009 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute responded today to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s announcement that it will now support energy-rationing legislation by calling on small businesses to drop their Chamber membership and join CEI in fighting this catastrophic legislation.

 

In a November 3 letter to Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Chamber announced that it would now support legislation based on a recent New York Times op-ed by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 95 Comments »

Categories : politics

Study – Solar winds magnetically driven

4 11 2009

From a University College, London Press Release – Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields

Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL researchers based on the latest observations from the Hinode satellite.

Solar winds (courtesy Hinode)

Image: Solar winds (courtesy of Hinode)

 

Scientists have long speculated on the source of solar winds. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), on board the Japanese-UK-US Hinode satellite, is now generating unprecedented observations enabling scientists to provide a new perspective on the 50-year old question of how solar wind is driven. The collaborative study, published in this month’s issue of Astrophysical Journal, suggests that a process called slipping reconnection may drive these winds. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 133 Comments »

Categories : solar, space

NASA grant to create Mars weather forecasts

4 11 2009

From a Texas A&M Press Release

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA11418.jpg

Mars, Image: NASA JPL

Is there such a thing as “weather” on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet’s atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and out-of-this-world dust storms, and Istvan Szunyogh, a Texas A&M professor of atmospheric sciences, has been awarded a NASA grant to analyze and forecast Martian weather.

Mars is the most Earth-like planet we know, but it is still quite different. For example, it is much colder on Mars.

The south pole of the Earth is covered by water ice, but the south pole of Mars wears a dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) cap. In winter, the temperature at the poles can dip to -140°C (-220 degrees Fahrenheit), which is so cold that even carbon dioxide freezes.

“Planet-encircling Martian dust storms, which occur every two to four Mars years, can cover the whole planet with dust for months,” notes Szunyogh, who is working with colleagues from the University of Maryland and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., to forecast Martian weather.

Why care about weather on Mars? After all, nobody lives, works or goes to school there. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 55 Comments »

Categories : forecasting, space, weather

It’s official – climate change beliefs now have religious equality status

4 11 2009

While I’ve been avoiding posting on this topic for quite some time, when a UK court makes a ruling like this, and the UK Telegraph makes a headline like the one below, it becomes hard to ignore. We live in interesting times.

Saint_Gore

Image: National Post

From the UK Telegraph:

Climate change belief given same legal status as religion

An executive has won the right to sue his employer on the basis that he was unfairly dismissed for his green views after a judge ruled that environmentalism had the same weight in law as religious and philosophical beliefs.

excerpts: Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 141 Comments »

Categories : ridiculae

Video of Lindzen’s recent presentation

4 11 2009

On Monday, October 26th, the Cooler Heads Coalition hosted Dr. Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The video is now available in addition to the powerpoint. Thanks to CEI’s globalwarming.org Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 55 Comments »

Categories : presentations

Boxer’s global warming hearing gets cold reception

4 11 2009

Sen. Barbara Boxer went ahead with the markup hearing on her global warming bill this morning despite the absence of all but one Republican (George Voinovich). She sat alone during markup doing nothing for 15 minutes. Michelle Malkin obtained photos. See below.

More photos below

Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 36 Comments »

Categories : politics