When some people suggested that sun influences earth’s climate, the wack0 pseudo-scientists scoffed. “How could man possibly influence the sun?” they asked.
Now, two prominent climate scientists, Robert Toggweiler of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University and Joellen Russell, assistant professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona, conclude that wind has a larger influence on Arctic ice than man. (h/t Gateway Pundit).
It’s not ice melt but rather wind circulation that drives ocean currents northward from the tropics. Climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind’s effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over-emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt. [source]
Coincidentally, North American snow and ice cover this winter is greater than any year since 1966, a full 0.3 degrees F below the 20th century average. More coincidentally, Arctic ice is as thick as ever (in recent times, anyway). (Watts Up With That is one of the best climate blogs on the warming cooling planet.)
So what about the sun, Hennessy? You must be wrong.
Slow down. Solar activity is at a modern low, and that just happened over the past year.
Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.
The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased. [source]
I blogged about this reality over a month ago, and received a snotty , “you’re not scientist” lecture from a global warming nut . . . who’s not a scientist, either. (At least I’m a software designer–much closer to science than this wack.)
So bundle up and enjoy the miseries of non-nuclear winter. Here in St. Louis, we’re waiting for today’s rain to turn into our 3rd snow and ice event in a week. (The school year’s already been extended.)
UPDATE: Reading this entry from Accuweather and the associated comments will make you want to strike a global warming nut.
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