On Mar 5, 1:37 pm, Steve wrote:
Sun Responsible for Global Warming
As Reported on NewsMax
Two new reports cast doubt on the manmade global warming theory and
instead point to another cause for the recent warming of Earth to
changes in the sun.
One report from National Geographic News asserts, "Simultaneous
warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate
changes have a natural and not a human-induced cause, according to one
scientist's controversial theory.
Data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey mission in 2005
disclosed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps near Mars' south pole had
been shrinking for three consecutive summers.
Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory
in Russia, says the shrinking provides evidence that the current
warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun, according to
the National Geographic article.
"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth
and Mars, he said. "Manmade greenhouse warming has made a small
contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years but it
cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance.
The other report offers a mechanism behind the changes in the sun
variations in its magnetic field.
Compiled by scientists at the Danish National Space Center, it
maintains that the Earth's climate is strongly influenced by cosmic
rays from exploded stars.
The cosmic rays help make ordinary clouds, and high levels of rays and
cloudiness cool the planet, while lower levels of radiation lead to
milder temperatures, according to the Danish report, which is cited by
Marc Morano, communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment & Public Works, on the committee's Web site.
"Cosmic ray intensities and therefore cloudiness keep changing because
the sun's magnetic field varies in its ability to repel cosmic rays
coming from the galaxy before they reach the Earth, the Danish report
by Henrik Svensmark, head of the Space Center, explains.
Whenever the sun's magnetic field was weak, cosmic ray intensities
were high and the climate cooled, most recently in the little ice age
that climaxed 300 years ago.
Several scientists cited in the report believe that changes in the
Earth's climate are linked to "the journey of the sun and the Earth
through the Milky Way Galaxy. They blame the icehouse episodes on
encounters with bright spiral arms, where cosmic rays are most
intense.
NOAA is wonderful. It seems every month NOAA puts out a report saying
the latest month is one of the warmest on record. Every month.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2838.htm
MARCH TEMPERATURES SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD FOR U.S.;
GLOBAL MARCH TEMPERATURE FIFTH WARMEST ON RECORD
April 16, 2007 - March 2007 was more than five degrees Fahrenheit
warmer than average throughout the contiguous U.S., making it the
second warmest March on record, according to scientists at the NOAA
National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Precipitation was
above average in much of the center of the nation, while the Southeast
and much of the West were drier than average. The global average March
temperature was fifth warmest on record. (Click NOAA image for larger
view of March 2007 statewide temperature rankings. Please credit
"NOAA.")
U.S. Temperature Highlights
For the contiguous U.S., last month's average temperature of 48.1
degrees F made it the second warmest March on record (based on
preliminary data). It was 5.6 degrees F (3.1 degrees C) warmer than
the 20th century mean of 42.5 degrees F (5.8 degrees C). Only March
1910 was warmer in the 113-year national record.
Statewide temperatures were much warmer than average from parts of the
Midwest and Deep South to the Northern Plains and West Coast. Most
Northeast states and Florida were near average, while no contiguous
U.S. state was cooler than average for the month. The month tied for
the warmest on record for Oklahoma.
More than 2,500 daily record-high temperatures were set from the East
to the West Coast during the month. On March 13 alone, more than 250
daily high temperature records were set. The earliest high of 90
degrees F (32 degrees C) occurred in Las Vegas that day. For March,
more than 200 daily record highs of 90 degrees F or greater were
registered in California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and areas of the
Southeast.
The warmer-than-average March temperatures helped reduce residential
energy needs for the nation. Using the Residential Energy Demand
Temperature Index (REDTI-an index developed at NOAA to relate energy
usage to climate), the nation's residential energy demand was
approximately 11 percent lower than what would have occurred under
average climate conditions for the month.
Alaska had its third coldest March on record, with a temperature 12.5
degrees F (6.9 degrees C) cooler than average. Also, 40 new daily
record-low temperatures were tied, or broken, during March throughout
the state.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
Precipitation was above average from parts of the Northeast to the
upper Midwest and from the northern Plains to Texas and New Mexico.
Much needed rain helped end drought in large parts of Texas. For
Texas, it was the wettest March on record. (Click NOAA image for
larger view of March 2007 statewide precipitation rankings. Please
credit "NOAA.")
Across the Deep South and Southeast, drier-than-average conditions
prevailed for a second straight month, worsening drought conditions.
Six states were much drier than average from Louisiana and Arkansas to
Florida. It was the second driest March on record for Mississippi and
the third driest for Alabama.
At the end of March, severe drought stretched from southeastern
Mississippi to northwest Georgia and Tennessee and also affected
southern Florida.
The combination of unusual warmth and below-average snowfall during
much of the month led to a continued deterioration of mountain
snowpack conditions in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
At the end of March, mountain snowpack was less than 50 percent of
average in parts of every state in the West and less than 25 percent
of average in several states.
In Los Angeles, the lack of rainfall led to the driest water-year to
date for the city since records began in 1877. From July 1, 2006,
through the end of March, downtown Los Angeles had received only 2.47
inches of rain, almost one foot below the normal amount of rainfall
for the period.
In the West, where mountain snowpack is relied upon to supply water
needs throughout the region, below-average rain and snowfall have
become increasingly common. In only two of the past nine years has
snowpack on April 1 been at or above the long-term average in at least
half the region.
Near the end of March, approximately 33 percent of the contiguous U.S.
was in moderate to exceptional drought, according to the federal U.S.
Drought Monitor. The most severe conditions were in northern Alabama,
southern California, western Arizona, parts of the western High Plains
and extreme northern Minnesota.
Global Highlights
The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for March was
the fifth warmest on record (1.10 degrees F/0.61 degrees C above the
20th century mean). For the January-March year-to-date period, the
global surface temperature was second warmest on record. This was
slightly cooler than the same three-month period in 2002. The El Niņo
episode that began in September 2006 rapidly weakened in February and
neutral conditions were present in March.
Separately, the global March land-surface temperature was the fourth
warmest on record, while the ocean-surface temperature tied for sixth
warmest in the 128-year period of record, approximately 0.2 degrees F
(0.1 degrees C) cooler than the record established during the very
strong El Niņo episode of 1997-1998.
During the past century, global surface temperatures have increased at
a rate near 0.11 degrees F (0.06 degrees C) per decade, but the rate
of increase has been three times larger since 1976, or 0.32 degrees F
(0.18 degrees C) per decade, with some of the largest temperature
increases occurring in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200
years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of
the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation
of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the
1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and information service delivery for transportation, and by
providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine
resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of
Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than
60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global
monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes,
predicts and protects.
Relevant Web Sites
Climate of 2007: March in Historical Perspective
NOAA Drought Information Center