Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Continued Strangeness of the Sun


It is now been 31 days since a sunspot has appeared on the sun. This is at a time when the next solar cycle is long overdue. At visible wavelengths the solar irradiation has dropped only a small amount, while at ultraviolet wavelengths, a 6% drop has occurred. For more info see this NASA link.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, reports that this summer's ice coverage in the arctic is between the former long term average and what occurred during the ice coverage low of 2007.

Whether this is related to the Sun's behavior no one knows. We do know that increased CO2 in the atmosphere should increasing global warning, but the Sun is also an important factor.

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