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Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Scientists Clueless over Sun's Effect on Earth

 
From: antigray@...
Date: Wed May 25, 2005  1:40 pm
Subject: Scientists Clueless over Sun's Effect on Earth
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Scientists Clueless over Sun's Effect on Earth
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer

While researchers argue whether Earth is getting warmer and if humans are
contributing, a heated debate over the global effect of sunlight boiled to the
surface today.

And in this debate there is little data to go on.

A confusing array of new and recent studies reveals that scientists know
very little about how much sunlight is absorbed by Earth versus how much the
planet reflects, how all this alters temperatures, and why any of it changes
from
one decade to the next.

Determining Earth's reflectance is crucial to understanding climate change,
scientists agree.

Brighter outlook?

Reports in the late 1980s found the amount of sunlight reaching the planet's
surface had declined by 4 to 6 percent since 1960. Suddenly, around 1990,
that appears to have reversed.

"When we looked at the more recent data, lo and behold, the trend went the
other way," said Charles Long, senior scientist at the Department of Energy's
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Long participated in one of two studies that uncovered this recent trend
using satellite data and ground-based monitoring. Both studies are detailed in
the May 6 issue of the journal Science.

Thing is, nobody knows what caused the apparent shift. Could be changes in
cloud cover, they say, or maybe reduced effects of volcanic activity, or a
reduction in pollutants.

This lack of understanding runs deeper.

A third study in the journal this week, tackling a related aspect of all
this, finds that Earth has reflected more sunlight back into space from 2000 to
2004 than in years prior. However, a similar investigation last year found just
the opposite. A lack of data suggests it's impossible to know which study is
right.

The bottom line, according to a group of experts not involved in any of
these studies: Scientists don't know much about how sunlight interacts with our
planet, and until they understand it, they can't accurately predict any possible

effects of human activity on climate change.

Reflecting on the problem

The percentage of sunlight reflected by back into space by Earth is called
albedo. The planet's albedo, around 30 percent, is governed by cloud cover and
the quantity of atmospheric particles called aerosols.

Amazingly, one of the best techniques for measuring Earth's albedo is to
watch the Moon, which acts like a giant mirror. Sunlight that reflects of Earth
in
turn reflects off the Moon and can be measured from here. The phenomenon,
called earthshine, was first noted by Leonardo da Vinci.


Albedo is a crucial factor in any climate change equation. But it is one of
Earth's least-understood properties, says Robert Charlson, a University of
Washington atmospheric scientist. "If we don't understand the albedo-related
effects," Charlson said today, "then we can't understand the effects of
greenhouse
gases."

Charlson's co-authors in the analysis paper are Francisco Valero at the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography and John Seinfeld at the California
Institute
of Technology.

Plans and missions designed to study the effects of clouds and aerosols have
been delayed or cancelled, Charlson and his colleagues write.

To properly study albedo, scientists want to put a craft about 1 million
miles out in space at a point were it would orbit the Sun while constantly
monitoring Earth.

The satellite, called Deep Space Climate Observatory, was once scheduled for
launch from a space shuttle in 2000 but has never gotten off the ground. Two
other Earth-orbiting satellites that would study the albedo have been built but
don't have launch dates. And recent budget shifts at NASA and other agencies
have meant some data that's available is not being analyzed, Charlson and his
colleagues contend.

'Spurious argument'

While some scientists contend the global climate may not be warming or that
there is no clear human contribution, most leading experts agree change is
underway.

Grasping the situation is crucial, because if the climate warms as many
expect, seas could rise enough to swamp many coastal communities by the end of
this
century.

Charlson says scientists understand to within 10 percent the impact of human
activity on the production of greenhouse gases, things like carbon dioxide and
methane that act like blanket to trap heat and, in theory, contribute to
global warming. Yet their grasp of the human impact on albedo could be off by as

much as 100 percent, he fears.

One theory is that if humans pump out more aerosols, the small particles
will work to reflect sunlight and offset global warming. Charlson calls that "a
spurious argument, a red herring."

Greenhouse gases are at work trapping heat 24 hours a day, he notes, while
sunlight reflection is only at work on the day side of the planet. Further, he
said, greenhouse gases can stay in the atmosphere for centuries, while aerosols
last only a week or so.

"There is no simplistic balance between these two effects," Charlson said.
"It isn't heating versus cooling. It's scientific understanding versus not
understanding."

http://www.livescience.com/environment/050505_earth_bright.html



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet - May 24, 2005, Lots of "earth movements" among other changing things..

 
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet 5.24.05

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

- Special to The Dispatch

Warming Migration

Global warming has sent nearly two-thirds of the North Sea?s fish population northward in search of cooler waters, according to a report in the journal Science. Marine biologist Alison Perry, of the University of East Anglia, writes that if the trend continues, species such as cod, sole and whiting could disappear entirely from the North Sea by 2050. Perry and her team analyzed data on 90 species of the region?s fish over 25 years, as well as water temperatures, which rose 1 degree Fahrenheit between 1962 and 2001. ?It isn?t just a case of individual fish choosing to move towards colder waters. It points towards an entire population of fish becoming less viable in response to warming,? said Perry.

Solar Storm

A massive burst of energy from the sun on May 15 created one of the most intense solar storms ever recorded in Earth?s geomagnetic field on. The stream of charged particles brought displays of the aurora borealis as far south as Arizona and disrupted high-frequency radio communication worldwide.

Cross-Species Infection

The World Health Organization confirmed that the hemorrhagic disease responsible for nine human deaths in the remote northwest of the Republic of Congo was caused by the Ebola virus. Health experts believe the victims contracted the disease from an infected primate. ?The first cases apparently appeared among Itoumbi villagers, who had gone elephant hunting and who touched and ate a dead monkey they found in the forest,? said South African travel health specialist Dr. Andrew Jamieson. Health officials were trying to track down 56 people suspected of close contact with the victims to ensure early diagnosis and to contain the spread of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever.

Desert Swarms

A new wave of desert locusts has gathered in southeast Niger, threatening to devour crops in the region as well as parts of neighboring Nigeria. The swarms mainly consist of immature locusts bred during last year?s severe infestation, which stretched across western and northern Africa. According to the African Agrometeorology Center, the insects have already caused minor damage to staple crops in southern Niger. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization made another appeal for donor nations to help locust-threatened countries deal with the new swarms, which could bring a second year of acute food shortages.

Wayward Storm

A rare, early-season tropical storm formed off Central America?s Pacific coast, then moved toward shore rather than on a path out to sea, which is normally expected at this time of year. Tropical Storm Adrian was predicted to come ashore in El Salvador at near hurricane strength late in the week.

Earthquakes

A magnitude 6.9 temblor in the northwest Sumatra aftershock zone triggered panic across a large part of the disaster zone. There were no reports of additional damage or casualties from the latest shaking.

? Earth movements were also felt in northeastern Japan, southeastern Iran, southern and central Turkey, northeastern Romania, southwestern Germany, central Sweden, Oklahoma, central California, the California-Mexico border region, El Salvador and Hawaii?s Big Island.

Eruptions

A volcano on an uninhabited island of the Galapagos Islands chain erupted with flows of lava that killed some of Galapagos? unique wildlife. The Geophysical Institute of Ecuador reported that Cumbre Volcano sent a 4-mile-long river of magma down its slopes, which eventually reached the Pacific. Cumbre last erupted 10 years ago.

? A thick pall of smoke from Anatahan Volcano in the Northern Mariana Islands drifted westward 1,400 miles, almost reaching the Philippines. Ships passing through the ?vog? reported visibility as low as 2.5 miles, while ash from Anatahan soared 8,000 feet above the U.S. Pacific territory volcano.

Solar Interference

A report in the Journal of Sea Research suggests that surges in solar activity may be why whales run aground in some parts of the world. A team from the University of Kiel compared records of sperm whale strandings in the North Sea between 1712 and 2003 with observations of the sun during the same period. They found that of the 97 stranding events reported around the North Sea over the 291 years, 90 percent occurred when sun cycles were below average in duration - an event associated with stronger energy from the sun. The researchers believe geomagnetic storms may disrupt the whales? internal compasses, causing them to run aground.

- Steve Newman

The mose contagious info currently spreading around the internet blog community...

Better than the managed media!  Dee
~
 Provided for your reading enjoyment, here is an RSS feed from Blogdex.net. It's a list of sites with the most contagious information currently spreading around the blogging community.

blogdex - the weblog diffusion index
Google
Leaving the left / I can no longer abide the simpering voices of self-styled progressives -- people who once championed solidarity
Tillman's Parents Are Critical Of Army
an on-the-ground look at what is going on in the Middle East today, and who's getting the credit for it:
Riding Sun: Newsweek: America is dead
A Letter to Our Readers - Letters & Live Talk - MSNBC.com
Roadcasting
Thompson at Large - Home
The Sith Sense
Google Translator: The Universal Language
WFMU's Beware of the Blog: The Simpsons as Described by WGBH
The Observer | International | Would you Adam 'n' Eve it ... dinosaurs in Eden
Das Keyboard - UberGeeks Only
BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis
The Complete List - ALL-TIME 100 Movies - TIME Magazine
AutoBlogger.net
Morgan Stanley Introduces New Test of Editorial Integrity: Corante > Flackster >
Ministry uses dinosaurs to dispute evolution
capnwacky.com | Unfortunate Star Wars Costumes
"The point of these calls for lopsided retribution is to drive home just how dangerous it is to trifle with sacred person and belief system of the enemy."
O'Reilly Radar > Podcast support in next version of iTunes
World news from The Times and the Sunday Times - Times Online
Blogebrity
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | BBC staff strike over job cuts
Unseen Pictures, Untold Stories
The American Street ? Blog Archive ? ?Constitutional option? as in ?constitution optional?
Boing Boing: Official French translation for "weblog"
read the latest installment on Art's weblog
The Washington Monthly
Scientific American: 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Lawrence Lessig and John Hardwicke Fight Sexual Abuse and the American Boychoir School
Chris Abraham: Star Wars USENET Postings On net.movies.sw Circa 1983
Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion
Davids Medienkritik: BREAKING NEWS: Schroeder's Social Democrats Suffer Major Loss in Key Election
Stem Sell "I made it very clear to the Congress t

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Do Not Get Caught Up In The Signs

 More Earth Changes messages..
This from Susan Cummings..
 
Dee
 
 
From: Sheba11
Date: 05/17/05 18:49:24
Subject: [His-Sheep] Fw: Do Not Get Caught Up In The Signs Of My Coming
 
 
 
 
Do Not Get Caught Up In The Signs Of My Coming
 
Do not get caught up in the signs of My Coming. Disentangle yourself
from the cares and the weights that others put upon you. Do not be
concerned for the changes that will take place, for I have already told
you what would come in My Word. You already have the facts before you.
 
What you need is to get before Me, and allow Me to prepare you for those
changes. So many of My Children are running to and fro, racing to find
the latest fact, when they cannot see beyond their own limitations. Men
will never figure out all that I will do, no matter how much they run,
how much they inquire, or how much they dig. The only place to be is
before Me.
 
I am moving in the earth. The earth is responding to My movings. Men are
running and seeking to find out why the earth travails, and do not have
sense to realize that it is Me moving in the earth. I am the God of all
things. I created everything, and use all things for My Purposes. Men
have defiled My Creation through sin, rebelliousness, and negligence,
and now Creation travails to be released from it�s bondages.
 
I have warned My people to come to Me. I have done all that I am going
to do to warn the generations. I have warned enough, and still many will
not receive Me. So the shakings will show forth more of what I am doing.
Justice responds to injustice. The seeds have come to fruition and will
reap after their own kind. The reaping season has already begun.
 
The separation will continue till Mine are thoroughly purged and
removed. All that is not Mine will be given to it�s master. For the
reaping is overtaking the sowing and what is not Holy is now remaining
unclean. The shifting is only the beginning of the travails. The
travails have only begun, and men already run. What will you do when I
fully come?
 
The shifts must take place for the complete separation to be fulfilled.
That which is destined for the Throne is ascending, and that which is
destined for the pit is descending. Each after it�s own course. Natural
events show forth what I am doing in the Spirit. Those who have eyes to
see, will see. Those who have rejected the Truth, will not.
 
Do not get caught up in the Signs of My Coming. But be found in My
House. Be found with oil in your lamp and found watching at My Gates. Be
found faithful until the end.
 
 
-Susan Cummings
5-17-05
4:09 pm
 

May be a hurricane coming soon to the Caribbean and South Florida ? Why so?..

The new energy bombardments from the center of our galaxy which have puzzled the scientists, the not-so-well-known ice meteors from the comet dust which are also bombarding us, the sun flaring long beyond maximum,  the alterations of the earth's geo-magneticism, the increased instability in the earth's magnetic core and shifting plate tectonics, the consequent global warming melting of the polar ice and drastic diminishment of the North Atlantic whirlpool, the Bodden Ice Shelf, are already showing their effects in our climate.   Maybe in our own temperament.  Have you noticed?

The earth is ringing like a bell.. maybe a telephone bell?  Hello? Hello?

  Dee Rohe

Pacific's first tropical storm could hit Central America, Caribbean

The Associated Press

May 17, 2005, 6:02 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY -- A tropical depression in the Eastern Pacific was likely to grow into a tropical storm -- perhaps even a hurricane -- that could hit Central America by the weekend, forecasters said Tuesday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Tropical Depression One-E seemed to be on an unusual, early-season path toward the coasts of Guatemala or El Salvador and that it ``could cause torrential rains over Central America.''

By Tuesday evening, the depression already had top sustained winds of 35 mph -- approaching the 39 mph level at which it would become a tropical storm. Forecasters said there was a chance it could reach hurricane strength of 74 mph before hitting land.

The depression's center was located about 470 miles west-southwest of the coast of Guatemala and El Salvador and was headed to the east-northeast at about 5 mph.

The hurricane center said that it could start bringing rain to Central America by Wednesday.

The storm was likely to be weakened by Central America's mountains, but preliminary forecasts suggested it could emerge over the Caribbean as a tropical depression and regain some force while moving toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

Most Pacific storms tend toward the northwest, marching roughly parallel to the coastline and then edging out to sea or veering inland.

The center said that since 1966, only one tropical depression has ever hit the coasts of Guatemala or El Salvador in May.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Adrienne the storm, Too unusual.. not 'normal'.. West to East.. too early.. Florida, hold your hats!

 
 
Excerpt:
 

Skip to comments.

Potential Hurricane Headed NE Towards Florida
NOAA ^ | 5-17-05 | NOAA

Posted on 05/17/2005 2:43:55 PM PDT by sheikdetailfeather

WFTV weatherman Tom Terry in Orlando said it is unprecedented for a storm to move this direction (NE instead of West) so early in the hurricane season, which started 5-15-05. By Sunday it will be very close to Florida!


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Alabama; US: Florida; US: Georgia; US: Louisiana; US: North Carolina; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: ALLABOUTTERRISCHIAVO; CLIMATECHANGE; HURRICANE; NOAA; SEVEREWEATHER
~End Excerpt
 
 
Dee

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