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Sun goes longer than normal without producing sunspots

eurekalert.org — The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites.

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  • gunge, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4quick good read and you get whats in title plus some news on japan, us & uk solar mission.
    • HotSaucePanCake, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Actually this was Will Smith's doing
  • boxxa, on 06/10/2008, -12/+7Its Solar Warming.
    • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -1/+22The opposite actually. Fewer sunspots are correlated with a decrease in solar output. That's actually mentioned in the article if you had read it.
      • aliengoods, on 06/10/2008, -1/+3Perhaps this explains why we just had a half degree drop in global average temperature.
      • cougar3429, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3What's not mentioned is that correcting jokes is correlated to a lack of a sense of humor.
        • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -2/+2Jokes are only funny if they're on topic.
      • aphexcoil, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5The sun is running out of Hydrogen to fuse. We're all going to die in 4 billion years!
      • pteddy73, on 06/10/2008, -0/+0well if we go into a mini ice age, that will counteract the global warming sh*t until we get that under control...
  • BalsamLane, on 06/10/2008, -5/+14Pfft, old! This was on the front page 6 hours ago.




    • GhandicapXRS, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4it was actualy more like 1 hour ago. Seriously, WTF.
      • thcobbs, on 06/10/2008, -8/+7Well, it could be worse....

        It could be a pro-obama article up on the front 5 times or a slam at McCain up on the front 8 times.
    • buckygrad, on 06/10/2008, -5/+4Then why did you bother to open it and comment? How about just ignoring it? I am glad we have the Digg police to ensure we poor Diggers that don't monitor the site 24x7 get exposed to duplication.
      • Shaggy63, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5Its called an RSS Feed and we don't like seeing all the dupes
  • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -8/+8Hooray! Another ice age is coming!
    • thcobbs, on 06/10/2008, -0/+9Did you ever read Fallen Angels? Its a book about what happened following the rise of the environmental movement to the point of having green police, banning development of new technology because of the possible damage to the environment, and the prosecution of people who enjoy science fiction.

      My favorite line from the book goes something like this:

      "Ironic that the greatest environmental disaster in man's history is due to environmentalism"

      Basically, the greens had completely cleaned up the environment, but during a lull in solar activity shown by no sunspots an ice age began.
      • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2I'm aware of it and have read other books in the continuity (the Dream Park series) but I've not actually read Fallen Angels. Pournelle and Niven aren't fans of global warming hysterics :).
      • caseycoold, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1too bad reality is scarier than fiction, and we are going to total opposite...
        • thcobbs, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Obviously, you didn't read the book.
    • Slovenian6474, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Ice Age 3? Alright! I can't enough of Ray Romano as a wooly mammoth!
    • C0MF0RTABLYnumb, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5We are still in an ice age.
  • Tcasey0478, on 06/10/2008, -7/+1I wonder if this has anything to do with global warming.
    • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -2/+10No, but it will have a lot to do with drastic global cooling.
    • qetuo, on 06/10/2008, -9/+2The sun isn't affected by global warming it is to far away, we are the 3rd planet away from the sun.
    • dusanmal, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Previous outburst of activity (peaked between 2000 and 2003 and steady rise in 1990's) is likely contributor to the global warming as its effect measurably warmed up all other planets (so, why not Earth). If this low activity continues on similar scales Earth and other planets will cool somewhat. But not next Thursday...
  • atmenterprises, on 06/10/2008, -7/+28Resulting in a cooling planet. Funny how the sun has an impact on global warming.

    http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/army-vs-glob ...
    • inajeep, on 06/10/2008, -4/+6Did you happen to reread the article lately?

      "[UPDATE: West himself said during a Thursday conference call that global warming is at least partially man-made -- and maybe as much as "70 percent" due to human intervention.]"
      • atmenterprises, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3But if no sunspots = cooler planet, I'd beg to differ.
    • duggdowncatisad, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4Hence you can go skiing in Colorado in June. Global cooling ftw!
      http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=933 ...
      • jerbaker, on 06/10/2008, -3/+3Boy Colorado sure has grown since I lived there. First it was just a small rectangular state in the middle of the United States, but now it's the size of the entire globe you say? I had no idea.
        • duggdowncatisad, on 06/11/2008, -1/+0I never said Colorado was the WHOLE globe, just part of it. Including Boulder, despite what the Limbaugh crowd likes to say.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -3/+2Yes, apparently only Exxon paid shills, and NeoCons are smart enough to know that the sun has heat.

      You guys have totally pwnd the Weather Scientist dudes with your awesome insight -- I'm sure they didn't consider the sun in their predictions at all and they will be humiliated by yore schooling them.

      You da man!
      • mysedai, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4*glances down at breasts* Uh, thanks?
        • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2OK, you da lady!

          "glances down at breasts" where did these come from? For any man, a pair of these would become a hobby.
        • mysedai, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1They are for most of us girls, too.
    • omaryak, on 06/10/2008, -3/+3http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/ ...

      If you look at the graphs on this page, you can see that, just as with everything else involved in climate change, there are natural cycles, but the cycles have gotten warmer since the beginning of the industrial era.

      The sun is a factor, but it doesn't excuse the undeniably human influence on the graph.
      • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Yes, but by the time that graph swings up again, a Democrat will be in the white house and it will instantly be his fault -- as if there were nothing leading up to this.
  • GhandicapXRS, on 06/10/2008, -13/+2Again, I blame global warming...
  • relic180, on 06/10/2008, -11/+3I'm sure it's just another excuse for religious types to preach the end of the world, and stock up on rice and canned corn.
    • LordPhilMil, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Have you seen the price of Rice and Canned corn?
  • SteaminTmann, on 06/10/2008, -2/+14I saw a special on what would happen if there were a massive solar storm... scary *****, transformers blowing up everywhere, no power (worldwide) for a long time...
    • aphexcoil, on 06/10/2008, -2/+15Autobots or Decepticons?
    • crazy0, on 06/10/2008, -5/+0how is no power scary? developing nations (3rd world, watever) get by fine with out any power...its just us who have been babied that will be screwed
      • wTheOnew, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4Hypocrite
      • elperegrino, on 06/10/2008, -0/+13rd world countries have no power???
        • crazy0, on 06/10/2008, -2/+0not on the scale of modern countries, you've obviously never been...
        • hwy9nightkid, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1how is it scary? Um maybe because what little power they do use is for critical things like water pumps and heating..not to mention the aforementioned 1st world countries.
  • doctechnical, on 06/10/2008, -1/+23"In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period coincided with a little ice age on Earth that lasted from 1650 to 1700."

    Yipes.
    • LordPhilMil, on 06/10/2008, -11/+10But don't let that fool you, the Sun has absolutely nothing to do with warming here.

      No, that was just a coincidence...

      yea...

      And I get dugg down for sarcasm

      Summary: I'm joking, the Sun has lots to do with this...
      • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -2/+5No, you get dugg down for not reading the article. A lack of sunspots causes cooling, not warming.
        • LordPhilMil, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4Damnit, the point of my post was to mock all the people who say the Sun does not contribute to warming.

          Maybe it would of been clearer if I said Climate Change instead of warming you could understand it.

          Its obvious I'm being dugg down for the inability of some to comprehend my comment as a joke to the climate change group who say the sun has no effect.

          Summary: Replace warming with Climate Change, reread, rinse, lather, repeat...

        • stealthc, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4And it is COOLING that has been happening for the last several years.

          Environmentalists only hear what they want to hear, apparently.
        • fuse13, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0LordPhilMil. Let me know when you can control the sun. In the meantime, maybe we should deal with the environmental issues we can control.
    • inajeep, on 06/10/2008, -5/+3Who the hell was recording sunspots in the 1600's and how?
    • pjkundert, on 06/10/2008, -5/+6A pox upon thee and thy household, thou infidel! How dare thee suggest a correlation between solar activity and warmth? Dost thou not *believe*!?
  • Jewbacca311, on 06/10/2008, -13/+8*****' thing sucks!!
    • aphexcoil, on 06/10/2008, -3/+3"To play us out? What does that mean? ... to play us out??"
    • mrbradg, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2The time wasn't right my friend. So...you get dugg down.
  • jerwin, on 06/10/2008, -10/+28You mean (gasp) that global warming MIGHT be caused by natural occurrences?????????

    No frigging way! Al Gore made a movie...
    • Necoras, on 06/10/2008, -7/+13Again, NO. Fewer sunspots will COOL the earth, not HEAT IT. RTFA!!!!
      • jerwin, on 06/10/2008, -5/+8You mean (gasp) that global warming MIGHT be offset by global cooling??

        No frigging way! Al Gore made a movie...
        • PabloMac, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4You mean (gasp) that global warming MIGHT be offset by global cooling??

          No frigging way! Al Gore made a movie...
      • BoneheadFarker, on 06/10/2008, -0/+11Actually, due to the increased activity in the 1990's where average temperatures rose on other planets, not just Earth, and given the fact that everyone is looking at this data saying that humans are causing the increased temperature, it's reasonable to say that global warming is caused by natural means. Mostly because it is caused by natural means. What will finally prove it is when we have an extended period of low activity and we, along with other planets, start experiencing global cooling. Of course we'll then have the "global cooling" nutcases running around like we did in the in the early 20th century...
        • jboettcher, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5Along with the "we're running out of ________" and we'll all die crowd. Insert whatever you want, food, oil, oxygen, I dunno.
        • macslut, on 06/10/2008, -0/+7"Of course we'll then have the "global cooling" nutcases running around like we did in the in the early 20th century..."

          Not that early. I remember this in the 70s. Some of these same people admitted they were wrong and misinterpreted the early data and then said it was global warming. Global Warming is now not the term to be used. It's Global Climate Change which covers your bases for anything as long as the temperature doesn't stay constant all day, every day.
    • thebellmaster1x, on 06/10/2008, -3/+8Again with this Al Gore nonsense. Al Gore is not a scientist and never has been. It's the SCIENTISTS saying that global warming is caused by humans that matter, not Al Gore. Do you honestly believe that humans and their sprawling industries have NO impact on the Earth's climate? That's foolish.
      • PabloMac, on 06/10/2008, -4/+3First it was the supposed human-caused global cooling paranoia of the 1970s. Now we hear about human-caused global warming, but observe evidence of both warming and cooling, and that's also caused by human activity?

        How about this: Maybe a tiny, near-insignificant impact from human activity is plausible, as long as the much great influences of volcanic and sunspot activity (among other natural processes) is also accounted for.
      • tony23, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Yeah, we all know Al Gore had nothing to do with promoting the Global Warming hype. And we all know that ALL scientists agree on the subject.

        Oh, yes, and we also know that the computer models are all perfect, and account correctly for all possible variables.
  • atb12688, on 06/10/2008, -4/+15It could be a contributing factor in the decrease of global temperatures. Wait... There's been a decrease in global temperatures in the last year? No wai!
  • poidh, on 06/10/2008, -6/+34I refuse to believe that climate change has anything to do with the sun, because otherwise it will be difficult for me to blame absolutely everything on the evil Neo-Con conspiracy controlled by AIPAC, etc. Or something.
  • Kyrgizion, on 06/10/2008, -3/+7Actually, while this probably doesn't interest 95% of people, it is something I have been keeping an eye on for a while. So much so, in fact, that I have a secondary monitor filled with solar monitoring widgets and graphs to keep me updated on the sun's emissions at all times.
    And it has been boring lately. Which is good news for our electronics, especially the ones floating 'round us.
    But a volcano is also quietest right before an eruption...
    • VAXcat, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5 Good news for electronics - bad news for high frequency radio propagation. Many of the HF communications bands are useless when there are no sunspots.
      • BigManOnCampus, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Please explain. I don't understand why that would be the case.
      • VAXcat, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0 Because sunspots correlate with the kind of solar activity that ionizes the Earth's atmosphere. Ionization in the atmosphere causes ionized layers to form, which cause HF radio waves to bounce back to Earth (sometimes multiple hops occur). This allows HF radio communications to occur around the planet. NO sunsopts, no ionization, and no reflections, manes quiet on the bands above 40 MHz or so. VHF and UHF waves aren't reflected by these layers, and are mostly line of sight, with occasional longer range due to sporadic E layer reflection, troposperic scattering, aurorae and the like.
    • joe8pack, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5A volcano is also quietest right after an eruption, as a matter of fact it can be argued that a volcano is at its loudest only when actually erupting. Let me know if you need more information or can provide grant money so I can study this matter further.
    • amightywind, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4No it isn't. Eruptions are preceded by a movement of magma and swarms of earthquakes, outgasing, etc. They don't just explode. If you are suggesting the sun will break out of its current magnetic lull, back your idea up scientifically. Don't pretend you are predicting an event that eventually must happen.
    • wigginz, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1You have a secondary monitor filled with solar monitoring widgets and graphs? I don't even want to know what's on your primary monitor.
  • poidh, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3Oh, and if the planet is going to cool then shouldn't we buy 8 litre SUVs and get our tiki torches out of storage?
    • PoopStick, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1hell yeah! what are you waiting for.
      • poidh, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I'm not waiting for nowt. I've already got them out.
  • biogears, on 06/10/2008, -12/+28And if you think global WARMING is bad, just try global COOLING.
    Crop failures, MASS starvation, 1 mile of ice down to Kansas.
    Forget the sinking of a small island in the Pacific (it wasn't due to warming anyway - scam for the uninformed).
    Real cooling could come close to wiping out humans.
    I'll take warming ANY day.

    Anyway, this global warming thing is going the way of the ozone hole, so the masses need
    a new hysteria. ""The Sun Spot Deficit!!!"" Run for your lives!!
    Cause: Reflection of radiation back into space from golf course sand pits, interacting with the solar winds.
    Dang those rich religious golfing republicans!! They are Always trying to destroy us!

    • Ducksa, on 06/10/2008, -7/+3Why the ***** are people digging this comment up?
  • DavidOlam, on 06/10/2008, -8/+3Just wait until 2012 when all natural hell will break loose!
    http://www.divulgence.net/
    • m0tbaillie, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Keep your crazy psychobabble ***** to yourself.
  • slantyeyed, on 06/10/2008, -8/+6I wanna see how people will try to blame Bush and global warming ON EARTH with the problems with the Sun.
    • ohmahgawd, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1Try reading the article, you retard. Less sun spots mean global cooling. If anything, it's going to make global warming deniers go 'LOOK LOOK, WE'RE COOLING DOWN!' and try and further debunk global warming.
      • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1They are talking about "Climate change."
        There is more heat getting trapped, but smoke from industrializing nations is reflecting heat as well -- masking the influence of more CO2 and methane. As well, the sun might be in a cooler phase (short-lived and only by a less than a degree). Ultimately, it will resume its average output. --- and what happened to the "Mars poles are melting -- it's the sun stupid?" Mars poles are melting perhaps because of being in a different orbit -- but the corporate spinmeisters want to find any reason to keep the status quo.

        In the West USA, we get floods, in the East we are getting a drought -- is that a good thing?

        The poles seem to be melting -- which will change climate more. The big changes are not in the temperate regions (on average) but at the poles and in night-time temps.

        I'm just going to have to rely on the scientists who deal with this sort of thing. There are a lot of factors, and we may have cooling for a short time even when we have increasing green house gases.

        But a lot of people add noise to this issue. The ultimate point is that we need energy independence and to be less wasteful. That saves money and the environment. From the right, I just hear "let's wait" and from the Left I hear "win/win solutions." I'll take the path that creates jobs and decentralizes resources, thanks.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1This has nothing to do with Global Warming -- lower activity seems to come when the sun cools -- whether the sunspots are a cause or an effect of that.

      We have some warming even while the sun's output is lower now. We also have lots of smoke coming from Chinese factories cooling things a bit. When the sun resumes more activity (only a slight change) we may find that the earth is going to get a lot warmer than we expected. The science on this has way too many variables to make the answer simple.
  • zadadka, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3Uh, this was predicted: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml
    • drlha, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4That's just the solar minimum, we know that happens every 11 years. What is being talked about here is a very low solar maximum (the peak of that curve).
  • BannedTwice, on 06/10/2008, -5/+3Just showing mans ignorance. Good stuff.
    • Ducksa, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Because there's a lot we can do about this?
      • PabloMac, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Sure there is. For one thing, we can prevent developing nations from...well, developing. Second, we can each go out and buy a brand new Prius. Third, we can...well, let's just ask Al Gore how to solve this "problem." He can be reached in one of his private jets...
  • gametavern, on 06/10/2008, -3/+2Mankind has done it again!
  • Shaggy63, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4OH NOES, news about the SUN!! Lets panic and spread FUD.

    bah
  • killacamry, on 06/10/2008, -1/+6as long as i get my iphone before the ice age ill be fine
  • danharlow, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Ha! I bet all of you who chose not to go see the film 'Sunshine' are kicking yourselves right now! :)
  • flashingcurser, on 06/10/2008, -4/+5Yes, we will all acknowledge the lack of sun-spots, but is it a man-made lack of sun-spots? Thats the real question here.
  • kenrayd, on 06/10/2008, -4/+2...which probably means that the sun is winding up for a big blast.
  • smokeymcdank, on 06/10/2008, -4/+3OMFG!!! A statistical anomaly! AND space! Digg that ***** for the front page! A winning combination...
    • heliox, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2Global warming CAUSED the lack of sun spots don't you see? The earth has been warming up, then BINGO, no sunspots.
      • PoopStick, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1its been cooling...
        • heliox, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Okay then, Global COOLING caused the lack of sunspots.
  • shauncorleone, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4Great, now we're responsible for universal cooling. Way to go people with your SUVs, and the corporations want to block out the sun, and then Team America goes out and supports the corporations ...
  • stealthc, on 06/10/2008, -2/+9Global cooling, and then global warming, and then cooling again, and now global warming again...

    I'm starting to understand why they just went with "climate change," instead of sending all the science publications through the Orwell Paper Shredder every 20-odd years.
    • jboettcher, on 06/10/2008, -1/+7yeah - "climate change" can be used as a fear tactic then whatever happens. Problem is, the climate will never STOP changing! Argh. Why can't we just accept this and move on to something more important.
    • thebellmaster1x, on 06/10/2008, -6/+1Probably because people like you hung on to the buzzword "global warming" without understanding the implications scientists were insisting you realize. Global warming does not and never has meant that the entire world's temperature goes up. It means that the average global temperature is rising (which it is, by the way), something that can cause several different and occasionally counterintuitive impacts on regional climate. Hence the term "climate change" to assuage your misdirected attacks, but now you just complain that the name was changed as part of a conspiracy. People like you insult climatologists.
      • stealthc, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4I bet it gets tiring to heft that straw man around everywhere you go.

        You're perfectly entitled to believe in AGW just like any other religion. I just wish the US would stop violating the 1st amendment by passing AGW-motivated policies.

        When a series of impending and immediate climate crises over the last three quarters of a century come and go, I am naturally suspicious when there is so much hyperventilation about how we need to slash global production by 80% or else New York City will be underwater.

        Don't pretend that the AGW argument is more complex than that because if it was, then maybe we'd see a few more details in the orgy of "green" ***** coming at us from every direction. The orthodoxy is very simple: Carbon Dioxide, the life-promoting chemical that plants need to survive, is in fact a deadly poison and humans need to stop producing it. Cold is good, warm is bad. Every "green" product and every "green" ad campaign revolves around the concept that every molecule of naturally-occurring CO2 you contribute back into the atmosphere makes the poor Earth cry.

        I insult climatologists who insult themselves by joining a religion just to safeguard their careers.

        http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscaus ...
  • mattowan, on 06/10/2008, -1/+8I thought the science was settled that the sun has nothing to do with climate!!!
    • jboettcher, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4And my paycheck has nothing to do with the food on my table every night either.
  • psiege, on 06/10/2008, -3/+8So, if this continues we'll be facing global cooling. A primary example of why I have not jumped on the whole notion of "man-made" global warming.
    • jerbaker, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1Amen! For example, the stock market has been lower the first half of this year than it was in the last half of 2007. I knew all those people who claimed that the stock market's trend over time is upward. They're all just a bunch of kooks and the data from this year proves it.
  • BradleyF81, on 06/10/2008, -3/+4I'm curious to know how they were monitoring sunspot activity in 1650 - 1700.
    • datastorageguy, on 06/10/2008, -0/+8If you hold up a piece of paper with a small hole in it, the sunlight passes through and you can see the image on the wall. You can actually see sunspots when you do that. I am sure someone has a more accurate description but that's basically it.
  • send9, on 06/10/2008, -1/+5Maybe if we all just stopped using the sun like it's some limitless resource, we wouldn't have all these problems. It's time to stop ignoring solar warming!
  • zyl0x, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1Don't get me wrong, "Major" Ed Dames is a ***** idiot... but still..

    http://www.thekillshot.com/

    Scares me a little to think there's a very small chance he could be right.
  • dblespresso, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4Superman needs to throw the nukes at the sun to get things moving along the correct path. We can fix this.
  • Kenzan, on 06/10/2008, -0/+11"The next cycle is just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012."
    (Dons tin-foil hat)

  • Steinr, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4This is like saying that a person did not blink for about a second. In terms of lifespan this is so short, it is beyond comprehension...
    • stealthc, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2It's a good thing the sun's perspective is not the measure of our news.
  • solarsavior, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4The Sun looks so nice. That anti-aging cream is really keeping away the spots.
  • Jewbacca311, on 06/10/2008, -3/+1i like my sun the same way I like my dick:
    http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/45/0 ...
  • macweirdo42, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4Personally, I think this is a great natural experiment. Rather than argue and bicker over global warming, let's just wait and see what the hell happens. I'm sure we can predict the expected rate of cooling from lower solar activity. So let's wait a few years, gather temperature data, and see if it matches up to the predictions. You know, actually conduct some damn science rather than run around acting like a 'tard by claiming to know the answer to something for which we currently do not have enough data.

    That's what I don't get - why the controversy? Why not just wait a few years and see what the hell happens? Even if global warming is man-made, it's not like we can do a damn thing about it, so there's no point in getting all hysterical.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1$150 a barrel for oil.

      Becoming energy independent, alternative energy, conservation -- they mean new jobs and a better economy for every nation that gets involved. The status quo and over-consumption are going to kill the ecosystem, whether or not we have global warming, cooling, or just freaky weather -- it is the least of our problems.

      The people funding the anti-science, and they have been caught numerous times -- profit from the status quo. Higher food prices, energy prices -- it is a bonanza.

      I prefer not to wait, because my budget can't handle it. Solar could provide 15% of our energy in 4 years if it were treated as significantly as this farce of an Iraq war. Sitting on our hands just isn't an option anymore, while the Right dreams up the next distraction.
      • macweirdo42, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Energy independence is a completely separate issue from global warming. Granted, it does have potential ramifications for global warming, but really, global warming shouldn't affect our progress toward energy independence, because we should already be investing heavily in it regardless.
        • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1So why are we arguing about what we should be doing?

          Mayor's have been adopting Kyoto protocols all over the US and actually saving money.

          The ONLY reason we would not want to conserve and find alternative energy, is if we wanted to be fighting for oil in other countries and paying too high a price. Now who would want that situation?
    • BigManOnCampus, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2The system is too complex to accurately predict. I doubt anyone can accurately predict global averages more than a year out.
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 06/10/2008, -6/+1I've already posted this -- but it was just too good to not post again in response to the typical "there is no climate issue, go back to sleep" claims;

    Yes, apparently only Exxon paid shills, and NeoCons are smart enough to know that the sun has heat.

    You guys have totally pwnd the Weather Scientist dudes with your awesome insight -- I'm sure they didn't consider the sun in their predictions at all and they will be humiliated by yore schooling them.

    You da man!
  • OSuX, on 06/10/2008, -2/+2Don't worry about anomalies, Captain Picard will save us in the end, he always does.
    • slayerab, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1I recommend we decompress the shuttle bay...
  • amadeusdemarzi, on 06/10/2008, -1/+8It's happening because of global warming
  • gkiltz, on 06/10/2008, -0/+0Last time it went an unusually long time between cycles, when the next cycle hit it was crazy!
    sunspot number we hadn't seen before! in 1957 and 58 There were little 5kw AM stations from places like Ohio and Michigan turning up in Helsinki, and Lyon, and Buenos Aries night after night for weeks!
  • trollick, on 06/10/2008, -0/+6Is anybody surprised? This administration completely ignore the issue for 8 years and did not invest a single dollar into new sun spots.
  • anonibtarded, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2To all those who deny this is caused by man, I warn you; Obama will see that you are charged with Hate Crimes!!!
    The sun has been wrecked by white people eating too much food and driving SUV's!
    We don't have much time!
    EMERGENCY!!!!
  • fuse13, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0I find it really interesting reading the comments by the "deny climate change" lobby. While science is busy worrying about whether man made changes affect climate, and whether the sun and other factors also affect the climate, the deniers seem to think ONLY ONE POSSIBLE FACTOR CAN AFFECT THE CLIMATE. Sunspots? WOW, THIS TOTALLY DISPROVES THE IDEA THAT MAN AFFECTS THE GLOBE, HEY? Nobody except for your pathetic strawmen argue that the sun doesnt affect climate. Yet the denial crowd want to somehow use every possible factor that affects the climate to point towards mans affect being nill. I think what all this evidence points towards is that our climate is quite delicate and various factors can throw it out of balance.

    The denial crowd might be right. Its quite possible the majority of scientists are wrong. Its also possible that a gun might not have any bullets in it, but only a moron would test it by putting to their head and pulling the trigger. Deniers have a hunch, and they are ready and willing to risk everything for everyone else on that hunch.
    • hack41, on 06/25/2008, -0/+0WE CANNOT AFFECT OR EFFECT THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT. THE SUN IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN WE COULD EVER BE. Global temperature is a cycle and thinking that we could do anything about it is foolish. In fact when we tried, we messed it up. Search google for "global dimming" and what that does. We stop burning nasty fuels to stop greenhouse gases, in the process we stop producing particulates which were reflecting the Suns light away from earth. So by trying to stop global warming we exacerbate the situation by eliminating the pollution that was actually protecting us from higher temperatures (Global Warming). Who would have thought our pollution was helping us. So, moral of the story, wait and see. We are only Human.
  • brownbagdog, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0pics or it didnt happen
  •  

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