Although we’ve been covering this quiet sun issue for over a year on WUWT, the light bulb seems to have gone on for mainstream media right about now.
There is growing press coverage about the current state of the sun, most recently from Charles Osgood of CBS News as well as the BBC and other major outlets. While the sun slumbers deeper and has missed its cyclic snooze alarm, our media is finally waking up to the solar somnolence.
Here is a short roundup of news articles on this subject today:
‘Still Sun’ baffling astronomers
Scientists warn sun has dimmed
Sun ‘at its quietest for 100 years’
Has the sun gone in? Earth’s closest star ‘dimmest it’s been for a century’
So the question arises, now that this has been identified, what should we call it?
There have been some good ideas, such as naming it after Jack Eddy, who coined the phrase “Maunder Minimum“. There’s been some discussion of a “Gore Minimum”, but I don’t like the idea of giving Gore credit for something he has nothing to do with, or even likely understands. There’s been suggestion of “The Hansen Minimum” which makes a little more sense, since he’s an astronomer by training. On that note, Leif Svalgaard predicted this, so maybe it should be his honor.
So, I’ve decided to have a poll, and I’ll take suggestions for other names than what I’ve listed.
Marxist-Leninist Lunatics Minimum
De-Liar minimum.
How about:
“The Monbiot Minimum”
or
IPCC Minimum?
Thank you Alex for this excellent reference on Landscheidt – it appears this was written in early? 2002 – is that correct?
Monbiot Mann Minimum?
We need lots of Ms!
Seriusly, I’d gladly accept Landscheidt Minimum.
The guy was a genius.
Having now read other comments, if Gore’s name being attached bothers folks, which I understand, I vote for the Inconvenient Minimum.
@Brian BAKER: Were you perhaps referring to “Ponder the Maunder”?
Brian BAKER,
Is this who you were thinking of?: click
[Click on the Table of Contents for some interesting reading.]
My favorite among the above so far is Igno Minimum edging the dead parrot.
Apocalypse Interrupted minimum?
I voted for Eddy, prefer Jose but my pleasure would be Landscheidt, hands down.
Pity the wind is blowing Incorrigible Curmudgeon.
Allan M R MacRae (04:55:59) :
Then we should informally refer to this Minimum as the “BumSteer” Minimum.
Science got derailed. Sent on a Wild Goose Chase. A snipe hunt.
Not everyone was wasting time with comic book models, however.
It’s just that the voices of those who continued working hard have been drowned out by Hollywood Blockbuster Disaster scripts.
The fanatics were looking for a sensation, but in reality the Sun was quietly heading out of Dodge.
Warmus Interruptus!
Name for the Minimum (Other): The Fairbridge/Shirley Minimum
REASON: They predicted it in 1987, based on objective analysis, via their paper, “Prolonged Minima and the 179-Yr Cycle of the Solar Inertial Motion.”
After all, isn’t it the actual discoverers of a thing that get the name…or…get to name it?
As far as I can tell, those two (R.W. Fairbridge & J.H. Shirley) are the first to see this coming — and to do so based on objective analysis. If ANY of the folks listed or recommended have a better qualification, I have yet to see/read/hear of it.
Name for the Minimum (Other): The Fairbridge/Shirley Minimum
REASON: They predicted it in 1987, based on objective analysis, via their paper, “Prolonged Minima and the 179-Yr Cycle of the Solar Inertial Motion.”
After all, isn’t it the actual discoverers of a thing that get the name…or…get to name it?
As far as I can tell, those two (R.W. Fairbridge & J.H. Shirley) are the first to see this coming — and to do so based on objective analysis. If ANY of the folks listed or recommended have a better qualification, I have yet to see/read/hear of it.
Put another way, give credit where credit is due. On matters such as this, being first to make the discovery [and/or to publish it] is a, if not THE, primary criteria.
Has someone been keeping a list and track the numbers of times for each name of all the suggestions above?
There’s like a bubble on the sun on the EIT 171 picture.
Geoff Sharp (02:02:14) :
A grand minimum (how we used to count them) should be 2 cylces below 50SSN if we go by the Dalton figures. But if we have one low cycle around 70SSN and it gets some sort of minimum tag like SC20 might do, then you indeed should get some credit.
The Dalton and the coming minimum are not Grand Minima. But one can, of course, still name significant minima as a shorthand in referring to them. Since really low cycles often come in groups, cycle 25 will likely be low too, although only a statistical prediction can be made.
Alan Chappell minium, why? because he is as ignorate as 99.9999% of the rest [see Anthony I left you out]
Nominee:
DIM SUN (It’s what’s for dinner by the Chinese)
Naming it after a person, even a scientist, will be seen as a political rather than a scientific event.
I suggest calling it the Climate Minimum
>>but exactly when did he say would cool – by 2030, or sooner?
He predicted the solar maximum would peak in 1990, but that temperature had a 7 or 8 year lag, which would place the peak temperature in 1998. It is all downhill from there – and remarkably accurate too.
He made two papers on this subject, one in 1988 and one in 1999.
See fig 6.
http://bourabai.narod.ru/landscheidt/new-e.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Landscheidt#cite_note-Landscheidt-1
Lots of support for Landscheidt, others mentioned incl Jose, Fairbridge and Shirley.
Its great to see Planetary Influence Theory has a solid following.
Here is a paper by Fairbridge, based upon his 1980s research. The imagery of the Sun-cycle and its relationship to peak and minima output is the best I have seen – however some graphs with temperature corolations might have been nice.
http://www.griffith.edu.au/conference/ics2007/pdf/ICS176.pdf
Quote:
The solar internal motion hypothesis predicts that the period from 2010 to 2040 will be one of relatively severe cold throughout the world.
I could not find a joint Fairbridge and Shirley paper.
.
R.W. Fairbridge & J.H. Shirley
The Second Age of Migrations.
All kidding aside, this name would be an honor.
It should be The Watts Minimum.
I’ve changed my preferences. No way, I vote for Landscheidt Minimum.