Science Daily: New Sun-Watching Satellite To Monitor Sunlight Fluctuations.
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2009) — During the Maunder Minimum, a period of diminished solar activity between 1645 and 1715, sunspots were rare on the face of the sun, sometimes disappearing entirely for months to years. At the same time, Earth experienced a bitter cold period known as the "Little Ice Age." ...
When NASA launches the Glory satellite this fall (no earlier than October 2009), researchers will have a more accurate instrument for measuring TSI than they've ever had before.
The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) on Glory is more sophisticated, but still related in concept to the very earliest ground-based solar radiometers, which were invented in 1838. Where those radiometers used sunlight to heat water and indicate the intensity of the sun's brightness at the Earth's surface, Glory's TIM instrument will use a black-coated metallic detector to measure how much heat is produced by solar radiation as it reaches the top of the Earth's atmosphere. ...
Research shows such variations in the Sun's emissions can affect the ozone layer and the way energy moves both vertically and horizontally through the atmosphere.
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3 comments:
How sad, still focussing on Victorian era models.
Louis,
True.
I wanted to ask you if you thought going back to school for geology is a waste of time and if I should do physics instead?
@ Louis Hissink:
The bullet point presentation, debunking "Man-made global warming", is excellent and well sourced.
See, Louis Hissink's Crazy World Ten Climate Fairy Tales – Hans Labohm.
Should this solar minimum continue unabated, expect world temperatures to continue trending colder.
Remember, the hottest and coldest months fall after the solstice, with Summer high temperatures in the northen hemisphere usually falling in late July and early August.
Right now, North America, particularly the Mid-West, is suffering through a prolonged stretch of cold, snowy weather -- blizzards are still very much in the news, lately.
Spring?
That groundhog must've seen it's shadow.
Old Man Winter is holding on with a tenacious grip.
Brrr!
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