One of the primary problems with determining a global warming effect is
the lack of a true baseline measurement with which to compare
current measurements. Ground-based studies of the lower atmosphere have
shown marked changes. It is the outer atmosphere, the least-explored
region of the atmosphere that may hold clues to global warming.
A NASA mission called "TIMED" (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesophere Energetics
and Dynamics) has been orbiting the earth since December 2001, taking
remote measurements from the Mesosphere, lower Thermosphere, and Ionosphere
(the MLTI region or outer atmosphere) to create a baseline from which
scientists at NASA, NCAR and other atmospheric research organizations can
come closer to a determination as to the real or imagined threat from
human-induced global warming.
It is not known if this is a cycle affected by the Sun (e.g. at the other
extreme there is a very close correlation between the Little Ice Age in
Europe and the lack of solar activity such as reduced sun-spots as observed
through a telescope by Galileo and others). We, in fact, are now
experiencing a steady increase in solar activity, even four years past the
Solar Maximum. That combined with anthropomorphic changes (man-made impacts
on habitats and environments) can cause climatic variations.
If you have high-speed access to the Internet, you can watch the following
23-minute movie call "Closing the Link in the Sun-Earth Connection". It
deals with the TIMED mission and its goals to take measurements in the MLTI
region to determine what effect human-induced changes and solar influences
have on
the atmosphere. It includes much information about the Sun-Earth connection.
http://www.spaceacademy.jhuapl.edu/VideoGallery/index.html
Scroll down to "TIMED - Closing the Link ..."
QuickTime or MPEG versions in 7 segments
Rich
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Andy Rindsberg [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 09:54:18 -0600
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Pollution and Extinction
Dear Olivier,
> Regarding this Day after Tomorrow, I believe that things might be really
softer: if, for example, the Gulf stream went to stop south of Greenland,
the only major effect might be, in Europa, a kind of Canadian climate ( the
land of ice, wet, stormy, rainy etc. as says Ross). I.e: more snow and
mosquitoes ??? More clouds ? Good thing! The sun is raging these years, and
not only in the southern hemisphere. I suspect this good old ozone layer is
not more very fat, except around the equator.
"The Day After Tomorrow" is based on a crank book that predicts very extreme
storms as a result of climatic change. I am sure that the book sold lots of
copies. It certainly made for a gripping film -- I saw the movie twice.
True, the consensus opinion among climatologists is that global warming will
lead to more frequent and stronger storms, including hurricanes, and this is
bad enough. Florida's experience in 2004 (four hurricanes in two months) may
become almost normal for some areas.
Crop failures north of the Alps are likely to be the most important effect
of a Gulf Stream shutdown. Much less dramatic than everybody freezing to
death in a few seconds. It's hard to grow wheat in the rain. Instead, German
tourists in Spain and English tourists in Italy may simply decide not to go
home...
Cheers,
Andy
Andrew K. Rindsberg
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