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November 8, 2008
Sunspots for Bush
Have you heard that we seem to be having a year without sunspots, and some believe this will make it colder than it otherwise would be?
In 1801, the eminent British astronomer reported that when sunspots dotted the sun's surface, grain prices fell. When sunspots waned, prices rose.He suggested that shifts in grain prices were a stand-in for shifts in climate. Large numbers of sunspots led to a warmer sun, he reasoned. With more warmth reaching Earth, crop yields would increase, depressing grain prices.
...
The vast bulk of research to date, however, points to greenhouse gases – mainly carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil, and natural gas – as the main force behind the current warming trend, most climate scientists say.Still, over the past decade some researchers say they've found puzzling correlations between changes in the sun's output and weather and climate patterns on Earth. These links appear to rise above the level of misinterpreted data or faulty equipment.
Are sunspots prime suspects in global warming?
Some have gone to claim that solar activity has more to do with global warming than we do.
"One thing is certain, based on past climate history and solar history, if in fact the suns magnetic activity slows, or collapses and we enter a prolonged period of little or no sunspot activity, we’ll see a global cooling trend."
All Quiet Alert
Others don't buy it.
To say that current warming trends are "all cosmic rays and no carbon dioxide is totally ludicrous, in the same way that people say that it's all [human-induced] carbon dioxide and nothing natural. That is equally ludicrous," says Jasper Kirkby, a physicist who is actively exploring potential links between cosmic rays and clouds at CERN, Europe's center for high-energy physics research in Geneva.
If that turns out to be true, Bush would really turn out to be a hero of skepticism. By not signing Kyoto and otherwise spending tons of money on global warming, he'll have saved us all a ton of money and wasted effort. I'm not saying that's likely, just possible, and it will be hard for him to get any credit.
Posted by OneEyedMan at November 8, 2008 8:02 AM
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