More Evidence Shows Sun Not to Blame for Global Warming
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 02.25.08
Experts in solar science, climate modeling and atmospheric science met in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to discuss the possible link between variability in solar energy output and global warming here on Earth.
We do know that that our sun is a variable star: “It varies by about one-tenth of one percent” in energy output, according to David H. Hathaway, a sunspot specialist from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville, Alabama. But that doesn't seem enough to explain observed climate change. In fact, according to Casper M. Ammann, a climate modeler at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, in the years since 1950, “there is no observed trend in solar radiation. The 11-year sunspot cycle has not been significantly abnormal."
In essence, he added, it’s now very clear that the atmospheric changes being seen now — global warming — “have nothing to do with changes in solar activity. It’s greenhouse gases. It’s not the sun that is causing this [climate] trend.”The Earth’s atmosphere — and its relationship to the sun’s energy output — is so complex that even as warming began, “up until 1960 we couldn’t see it.” But now, he said, since warming has been confirmed, the world’s climate scientists “are probably not overestimating the problem. It’s probably worse than the estimates.”
Ammann did add, however, that there is reason to hope that the most dire consequences can be avoided. Although it’s clearly too late to avoid the heating of the earth’s atmosphere, “we can substantially cut [it]” by severely reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide going into the air. “It is absolutely achievable,” he said — if by mid-century societies can generate enough will to make the necessary changes.
In short: Grave situation. Can't blame the sun. There's hope if we get off our butts.
Lets do it.
::Solar evidence points to human causes of climate change
See also: ::The 4 Stages of Global Warming Denial, ::Driving Another Nail into Climate Skeptics' Coffin, ::One More Climate Skeptic Argument Dims
Pic by Global Warming Art, Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Just another story to try to scare people. They just announced today that this is the coldest year on record in over 40 years. Soon it will be the next ice age is coming. No matter how hard the treehuggers try to decieve us the world is catching on. We have very little to do with the earths temperature at all and the chance to get the rich United States to start paying carbon taxes is soon going to be behind us. Just another distribution of wealth scheme from the liberal left. It never ends. It looks like that African nations will have to actually start their own businesses and figure out a way out of the mess they keep piling onto by having dictators and lots of Muslim wackos over there.
"coldest year on record in over 40 years"
There's a HUGE difference between local weather and global temperature average.
It could be 20 degrees below average in one region and the planet could still be getting warmer on average. Heat distribution can change and vary, but that doesn't matter when we're talking about global average.
But if carbon dioxide is such a powerful driver of climate, how can the recent very sharp drop in global temperature be explained?
Note that HadCRUT, RSS, UAH, and GISS fell an average of over .6 degrees C. (about the same as the entire 20th century warming) between January '07 and January '08.
Why is this particular La Nina so powerful? Is it merely coincidental that we're also currently in a deep solar minimum?
"But if carbon dioxide is such a powerful driver of climate, how can the recent very sharp drop in global temperature be explained?"
I think they're saying that the sun's changes don't explain global warming, not that it doesn't have any effect.
I'm no expert - and it's funny to see how everybody thinks they can understand that suff and disregard their conclusions with 2 seconds' though - but it is possible that in this particular sun cycle, things would be even colder than 0.6 or whatever it is.
Well well, the scientific dictatorship takes form. I can just seen all those nare-do-well. government bean counters dueling over the opportunity to levy more taxes against us to justify there existance and fund thier war of terror.
God help us.
Climate is about changes on a longer timescale fluctuations within one year say nothing.
What is the source of the graph of solar cycles? It would be nice if you sourced your figures.
What is the source of the graph of solar cycles? It would be nice if you sourced your figures.