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Solar Storm Dumps Gigawatts into Earth's Upper Atmosphere [NASA says CO2 causes global cooling]
nasa.gov ^ | March 22, 2012 | NASA

Posted on 04/20/2013 5:08:10 PM PDT by grundle

A recent flurry of eruptions on the sun did more than spark pretty auroras around the poles. NASA-funded researchers say the solar storms of March 8th through 10th dumped enough energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years.

“This was the biggest dose of heat we’ve received from a solar storm since 2005,” says Martin Mlynczak of NASA Langley Research Center. “It was a big event, and shows how solar activity can directly affect our planet.”

Earth's atmosphere lights up at infrared wavelengths during the solar storms of March 8-10, 2012. A ScienceCast video explains the physics of this phenomenon.

Mlynczak is the associate principal investigator for the SABER instrument onboard NASA’s TIMED satellite. SABER monitors infrared emissions from Earth’s upper atmosphere, in particular from carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitric oxide (NO), two substances that play a key role in the energy balance of air hundreds of km above our planet’s surface.

“Carbon dioxide and nitric oxide are natural thermostats,” explains James Russell of Hampton University, SABER’s principal investigator. “When the upper atmosphere (or ‘thermosphere’) heats up, these molecules try as hard as they can to shed that heat back into space."

That’s what happened on March 8th when a coronal mass ejection (CME) propelled in our direction by an X5-class solar flare hit Earth’s magnetic field. (On the “Richter Scale of Solar Flares,” X-class flares are the most powerful kind.) Energetic particles rained down on the upper atmosphere, depositing their energy where they hit. The action produced spectacular auroras around the poles and significant1 upper atmospheric heating all around the globe.

“The thermosphere lit up like a Christmas tree,” says Russell. “It began to glow intensely at infrared wavelengths as the thermostat effect kicked in.”

For the three day period, March 8th through 10th, the thermosphere absorbed 26 billion kWh of energy. Infrared radiation from CO2 and NO, the two most efficient coolants in the thermosphere, re-radiated 95% of that total back into space.

A surge of infrared radiation from nitric oxide molecules on March 8-10, 2012, signals the biggest upper-atmospheric heating event in seven years.

In human terms, this is a lot of energy. According to the New York City mayor’s office, an average NY household consumes just under 4700 kWh annually. This means the geomagnetic storm dumped enough energy into the atmosphere to power every home in the Big Apple for two years.

“Unfortunately, there’s no practical way to harness this kind of energy,” says Mlynczak. “It’s so diffuse and out of reach high above Earth’s surface. Plus, the majority of it has been sent back into space by the action of CO2 and NO.”

During the heating impulse, the thermosphere puffed up like a marshmallow held over a campfire, temporarily increasing the drag on low-orbiting satellites. This is both good and bad. On the one hand, extra drag helps clear space junk out of Earth orbit. On the other hand, it decreases the lifetime of useful satellites by bringing them closer to the day of re-entry. The Edge (signup)

The storm is over now, but Russell and Mlynczak expect more to come.

“We’re just emerging from a deep solar minimum,” says Russell. “The solar cycle is gaining strength with a maximum expected in 2013.”

More sunspots flinging more CMEs toward Earth adds up to more opportunities for SABER to study the heating effect of solar storms.

"This is a new frontier in the sun-Earth connection," says Mlynczak, "and the data we’re collecting are unprecedented."


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; climatechange; enviralists; globalwarming; globalwarminghoax
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If we want to stop global warming, we need to start pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
1 posted on 04/20/2013 5:08:10 PM PDT by grundle
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To: grundle

1.21 Gigawatts?


2 posted on 04/20/2013 5:08:42 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator

88 MPH winds?


3 posted on 04/20/2013 5:13:28 PM PDT by mikrofon (Back To The Freezer)
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To: grundle

Oh Good Grief!

The GLOBAL COOLING thingee is soooo, just SEVENTIES man!

According to the ‘70’s GLOBAL COOLING propaganda, we’re all suppose to be DEAD now.

OOPPPs, commie pigs have no rear view mirror. I forgot, sorry.


4 posted on 04/20/2013 5:24:59 PM PDT by ConradofMontferrat (According to mudslymz, my handle is a HATE CRIME. And I HOPE they don't like it.)
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To: mikrofon

88, 89.... whatever it takes.


5 posted on 04/20/2013 5:27:05 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: grundle

Al Gore deeply saddened.


6 posted on 04/20/2013 5:40:43 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: grundle

C-L-I-M-A-T-E C-H-A-N-G-E

We gotta have a Carbon Tax!

Carbon bad. Tax good.


7 posted on 04/20/2013 5:43:31 PM PDT by urbanpovertylawcenter (where the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...

Thanks grundle.


8 posted on 04/20/2013 5:56:48 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: grundle

It’s all because James Hansen retired. This never would have come out if he were still there.


9 posted on 04/20/2013 6:02:19 PM PDT by immadashell
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To: grundle

Be careful about reading too much into this. One group has already misinterpreted it according to Anthony Watt. Links below:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/28/a-misinterpreted-claim-about-a-nasa-press-release-co2-solar-flares-and-the-thermosphere-is-making-the-rounds/

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3010294/posts


10 posted on 04/20/2013 6:18:07 PM PDT by CedarDave (Marco Rubio takes a drink of water while the media swallows Obama's Kool-Aid)
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To: urbanpovertylawcenter

I still think the main cause is COW FARTS !!


11 posted on 04/20/2013 6:26:46 PM PDT by RightWingNut
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To: CedarDave

Duh. If the atmosphere did not have a blocking mechanism to filter out peaks of energy from the sun, life on this planet would only exist in caves if at all. The key point is that energy from the sun is highly variable. Something they have denied.


12 posted on 04/20/2013 6:28:51 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: ConradofMontferrat
Yeah; I remember that vividly, people were selling off their homes for about half price up here to move further south, buying up arctic rated cold weather gear (that they would never use) and clearing the market shelves of canned goods. What a bunch of idiots, they spent and lost millions on a scam that anybody who paid attention knew was a scam. Even my girl friend at the time was worried about it (she is my wife now for the past 38 years), until I asked her how a bunch of weather idiots in air conditioned offices and scientists who couldn't give an accurate 3 day forecast could possibly forecast weather 5, 10 or 20 years into the future. She was much more skeptical after that.
13 posted on 04/20/2013 6:37:42 PM PDT by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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To: grundle
Sacre Bleu!! What does CO2 cause? is it warming, cooling, warming, cooling, etc., etc.?

And the thing is, most of the libtards, the uninformed, believe this crap.

Is this why Hansen left?

14 posted on 04/20/2013 7:30:20 PM PDT by deweyfrank
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To: deweyfrank

NASA changes temperature data history, watch this video and judge for yourself.
http:(remove this text)//theolympiareport.com/wwu-scientist-debunks-lawmakers-myths-about-co2-climate-change/


15 posted on 04/20/2013 7:35:19 PM PDT by jyro (French-like Democrats wave the white flag of surrender while we are winning)
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To: grundle

Dear Morons and Scientwists:

We are getting all the energy, light, heat, radiation from the SUN and 11 year sunspots cycles cause the variation.
Just look at the changes: day/night, summer/winter and temperatures changes associated with them.
Humans have as much effect on “climate change” as Zero pissing in the ocean and causing “global flood”.

GET IT ?????

It is another scam to skin the taxpayer sheep.


16 posted on 04/20/2013 7:53:42 PM PDT by Leo Carpathian (FReeeeepeesssssed)
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To: grundle

I would have to guess that they are saying that the CO2 reflects the energy into space, the same way it reflects infrared energy (heat) back to earth, causing global warming.

My problem with the whole CO2=global warming is that the atmosphere is already is largely opaque at the infrared frequencies which allegedly cause global warming; adding more Co2 isn’t going to make it more opaque.


17 posted on 04/20/2013 7:59:25 PM PDT by dangus (Poverty cannot be eradicated as long as the poor remain dependent on the state - Pope Francis)
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To: grundle
says Martin Mlynczak of NASA Langley Research Center. “It was a big event, and shows how solar activity can directly affect our planet.”


18 posted on 04/20/2013 8:00:29 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Obama's vision - No Job is a Good Job)
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To: Leo Carpathian

Well put.


19 posted on 04/20/2013 8:22:28 PM PDT by deweyfrank
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To: 5th MEB
Yeah; I remember that vividly, people were selling off their homes for about half price up here to move further south, buying up arctic rated cold weather gear (that they would never use) and clearing the market shelves of canned goods. What a bunch of idiots, they spent and lost millions on a scam that anybody who paid attention knew was a scam. Even my girl friend at the time was worried about it (she is my wife now for the past 38 years), until I asked her how a bunch of weather idiots in air conditioned offices and scientists who couldn't give an accurate 3 day forecast could possibly forecast weather 5, 10 or 20 years into the future. She was much more skeptical after that.

I ended up in the South and am patiently waiting for the cool-down to make it habitable down here in the normal 9 months of Summer...

20 posted on 04/21/2013 5:12:43 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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