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Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age
Pravda ^ | 1/11/09 | staff

Posted on 01/11/2009 7:10:15 AM PST by xtinct

The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science. Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm, twelve thousand year-long Holocene period will rather soon be coming to an end, and then the earth will return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years.

Ice cores, ocean sediment cores, the geologic record, and studies of ancient plant and animal populations all demonstrate a regular cyclic pattern of Ice Age glacial maximums which each last about 100,000 years, separated by intervening warm interglacials, each lasting about 12,000 years.

(Excerpt) Read more at english.pravda.ru ...


TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Science; Weather
KEYWORDS: globalcooling; globalwarming; gore; iceage; nobelprize
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To: jpsb; ClearBlueSky
What are you doing to do with all those 10 of milions of Yankees that migrate south because of the cold? Yankee's can't live on land covered by a mile of ice ya know.

Pull out our propane torches, burn holes in the ice and stick 'em in like fence posts.

String some wire between 'em and we'll have a border fence to keep out the 'snowbacks'. ;-)

101 posted on 01/11/2009 11:00:32 AM PST by uglybiker (1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d 2 g3t l41d)
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To: xtinct

I thought “global warming” was going to “burn” the planet — which is it?


102 posted on 01/11/2009 11:02:22 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: ETL

The co-ink-a-dink I was referring to is the EOTW scenarios being discussed.

The quickening is a sensation that I am feeling and others I have toalked to as well.

Enjoy today, that is all we have.


103 posted on 01/11/2009 11:07:41 AM PST by wxgesr (I want to be the first person to surf on another planet!)
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To: 4Speed
You need to do a little more research, this Maunder Minimum isn’t matching the Historical cycle, and usually the sunspots NEVER disappear for this long.

We aren't in anything approaching a "Maunder Minimum" now. The MM, btw, represents a specific period in Earth history, around 1675 to 1725. Lasting for 50 years or so, it included several what-was-to-be sunspot max periods (no sunspots even at the 11-year SS max!). However, you are correct that this recently begun new cycle (Solar Cycle 24) is especially slow to get going with activity. In fact, 2008 had the most sunspot-free days of any year in the past 50.

______________________________________

From NASA.gov, September 30, 2008:

Coinciding with the string of blank suns is a 50-year record low in solar wind pressure, a recent discovery of the Ulysses spacecraft. (See the Science@NASA story Solar Wind Loses Pressure.) The pressure drop began years before the current minimum, so it is unclear how the two phenomena are connected, if at all. This is another mystery for SDO and the others.

...

"There is also the matter of solar irradiance," adds Pesnell. "Researchers are now seeing the dimmest sun in their records. The change is small, just a fraction of a percent, but significant. Questions about effects on climate are natural if the sun continues to dim."

Article:
Spotless Sun: Blankest Year of the Space Age [50 years]

______________________________________________________

Astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 is now the "blankest year" of the Space Age

As of Sept. 27, 2008, the sun had been blank, i.e., had no visible sunspots, on 200 days of the year. To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go back to 1954, three years before the launch of Sputnik, when the sun was blank 241 times.

"Sunspot counts are at a 50-year low," says solar physicist David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "We're experiencing a deep minimum of the solar cycle."

And it is a very quiet time. If solar activity continues as low as it has been, 2008 could rack up a whopping 290 spotless days by the end of December, making it a century-level year in terms of spotlessness.

Hathaway cautions that this development may sound more exciting than it actually is: "While the solar minimum of 2008 is shaping up to be the deepest of the Space Age, it is still unremarkable compared to the long and deep solar minima of the late 19th and early 20th centuries." Those earlier minima routinely racked up 200 to 300 spotless days per year.

Some solar physicists are welcoming the lull.

"This gives us a chance to study the sun without the complications of sunspots," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Right now we have the best instrumentation in history looking at the sun. There is a whole fleet of spacecraft devoted to solar physics--SOHO, Hinode, ACE, STEREO and others. We're bound to learn new things during this long solar minimum."

As an example he offers helioseismology: "By monitoring the sun's vibrating surface, helioseismologists can probe the stellar interior in much the same way geologists use earthquakes to probe inside Earth. With sunspots out of the way, we gain a better view of the sun's subsurface winds and inner magnetic dynamo."

"There is also the matter of solar irradiance," adds Pesnell. "Researchers are now seeing the dimmest sun in their records. The change is small, just a fraction of a percent, but significant. Questions about effects on climate are natural if the sun continues to dim."

Pesnell is NASA's project scientist for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a new spacecraft equipped to study both solar irradiance and helioseismic waves. Construction of SDO is complete, he says, and it has passed pre-launch vibration and thermal testing. "We are ready to launch! Solar minimum is a great time to go."

Coinciding with the string of blank suns is a 50-year record low in solar wind pressure, a recent discovery of the Ulysses spacecraft. (See the Science@NASA story Solar Wind Loses Pressure.) The pressure drop began years before the current minimum, so it is unclear how the two phenomena are connected, if at all. This is another mystery for SDO and the others.

Who knew the blank sun could be so interesting?

More to come...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/30sep_blankyear.htm

Related article:
Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low - Sept. 23, 2008
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/23sep_solarwind.htm

104 posted on 01/11/2009 11:12:51 AM PST by ETL (Smoking gun evidence on ALL the ObamaRat-commie connections at my newly revised FR Home/About page)
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To: xtinct

Pravda? I think Putin is trying to increase the price of oil.


105 posted on 01/11/2009 11:14:13 AM PST by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: xtinct

Scientists are such jokes. Anyone ever hear of cycles???

This is one of them people.

JB


106 posted on 01/11/2009 11:31:23 AM PST by thatjoeguy (Just my thoughts)
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To: Savage Beast
It scares me! The scariest thing about the Left is they way they suspend judgment--ignore logic--hold truth in contempt.

Yes, exactly right. I've been wondering about this tendency for otherwise smart people to let their emotions rule contrary to common sense and how to counter it.

I see conservative philosophy as the key, but those who speak conservatism are often remembered only for their personas and their thoughts and ideas are ignored and forgotten.

Conservatives should be the star players making the winning plays and the world a better place, but we don't survive the draft and rarely get picked for a team. How do we learn to win this game the left somehow is able to play so well? The moderates want us to become liberals and we know where that has gotten us.

107 posted on 01/11/2009 11:31:43 AM PST by GBA
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To: ETL; xtinct
The effects of the sunspot and irradiance lull are also compounded by the large amounts of volcanic ash and sulfur dioxide still circulating in the atmosphere from recent stratovolcanic activity in the Aleutian Islands.

Also add to the scenario that we are beginning on the downward temperature slope of the Milankovich Cycles.

Any warming trend that this planet experienced in the last decade and prior is waning and this cooling trend will last for decades.

As far as I am concerned, the idea of an anthropogenic-induced warming of this planet is total crap.  Since the entire theory is predicated on man-made CO2 causing the atmosphere to trap more heat than the planet can release back into space, the theory falls flat on it's face when empirical evidence shows that average global temperatures have dropped while CO2 and even NH4 have risen. The earth is losing heat.  The game is over.

At least for the midwest U.S., expect this Winter to have a few more surprises by the end of February.  Spring will ease in gradually and be wet with subnormal temps.  Summer will be mild and see no temperature extremes.  July through most of August will see lower than average precipitation although we will see some good thunderstorm activity as cool air masses collide with moist air from the south.  Fall will be on time or slightly early.  Hurricane season will see lower than average activity. Next winter will be a repeat of this Winter if not slightly worse with cold temps and high amounts of snow.  This is my forecast and it is not based on any government based forecast data or the Old Farmer's Almanac.

108 posted on 01/11/2009 12:05:32 PM PST by Outland (So when do we stop typing and start doing something?)
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To: GBA
"Conservatives should be the star players making the winning plays and the world a better place, but we don't survive the draft and rarely get picked for a team. How do we learn to win this game the left somehow is able to play so well? The moderates want us to become liberals and we know where that has gotten us."

Simple.  We need to make a lot of noise and master all forms of media.

The problem has always been that conservatives are generally quiet and keep to themselves.  We have families to raise, businesses to run, jobs to work at, an education to pursue and children to raise.  We don't have the time nor the inkling to get in someone's face.

That has to change.

For the longest time, liberals only thought that they were the majority only because the noise they heard was their own.  We were quiet until the likes of Rush Limbaugh starting making noise.  And many started to listen.  Since then, we've dropped the ball by keeping our exposure limited to radio and Internet forums and blobs.  And it's become stale.

Meanwhile, the left's influence appears in every type of popular media that the mainstream general populous (especially teens and young adults) crave... movies, video games and even porn.

The other component in the equation is the news media.  No one wants to read anymore or pay for news, so newspapers are dying.  Magazines as well.  News media on radio is sparse and the younger people don't listen to talk shows anyway.  TV news is more popular because most people don't want details.  So the left makes the most of this by polluting the TV news with over hyped twisted news excerpts to fit their agenda.  Sadly, many people get their news headlines these days by logging onto their email accounts from work, school or home where the first thing they see is Yahoo or MSN news headlines chosen by liberal minds.

Conservatives need to master the media and make noise.  When we finally do this, we will see results.

109 posted on 01/11/2009 12:21:33 PM PST by Outland (So when do we stop typing and start doing something?)
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To: Savage Beast

>>>>”the earth was flat, disease was caused by evil spirits”etc.>>>>

Ha! Very good. I’ll see her next week and if “the consensus on GB” comes up I’ll say what you suggest.


110 posted on 01/11/2009 1:26:34 PM PST by Ditter
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To: Kirkwood
There are viewable sunspots. The sun is starting the new cycle.

Oh, yeah... I see some wee freckles there.

111 posted on 01/11/2009 1:57:26 PM PST by Max in Utah (A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
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To: xtinct; All
This article was written by Gregory F. Fegel, see the last page of the article at the bottom.

Some other stuff he has written for Pravda:

Impeachment is Not Enough

A preponderance of evidence shows that the highest officials of the Bush Administration, in collusion with many other officials from the Pentagon, CIA, FBI, FEMA, NSA, NORAD, New York City officials, air-traffic contollers, airline executives, controlled demolitions experts, computer graphics technicians, media executives, and others together planned and committed the horrible attacks of 9/11/2001 against the Pentagon and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 9/11 attacks were immediately blamed on some bogus 'Arab highjackers', a half dozen of whom were later confirmed to be still alive, and therefore innocent, after the 9/11 attacks.

Missionaries are Colonialists

Christian missionaries make no secret of the fact that they use medical services, education, and employment opportunities to lure impoverished indigenous populations throughout the world into conversion to Christianity.

This is NOT a man we need to be quoting on Freeperville, even if he gets it write one time out of a hundred, the other stuff this imbecile puts out is just to outrageous for words.

I thought about calling the Admins attention to this, it's not your fault, I mean after all Drudge has this up (although I would think even he would of checked this guy out before putting him up), but I'll leave it up to you.

112 posted on 01/11/2009 2:24:52 PM PST by tricky_k_1972 (Putting on Tinfoil hat and heading for the bomb shelter.)
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To: tricky_k_1972

right not “write” duh


113 posted on 01/11/2009 2:27:15 PM PST by tricky_k_1972 (Putting on Tinfoil hat and heading for the bomb shelter.)
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To: Max in Utah

Um, that’s how the cycle starts. A few scattered spots for a couple years before more and more of the larger spots occur. You know that, right?


114 posted on 01/11/2009 3:42:14 PM PST by Kirkwood
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To: Kirkwood
There's no way we're headed for an ice age.

Now if you excuse me, I have to go back outside and finish shoveling snow! ;^)

115 posted on 01/11/2009 3:44:28 PM PST by airborne (I know it's just my opinion, but I've worked hard on forming it.)
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To: Kirkwood
Here is a great gif graphic from solarcycle24.com . Looks better here then on their web page due to formatiing. Shows how predictions for Solar Cycle 24 have changed as the actual reality of the solar minimum has played out. At best now Solar Cycle 24 is gonna be weaker then 23.


116 posted on 01/11/2009 3:51:55 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: ETL

gee, a SUN ~ Climate connection ? Who woulda thunk it...

Nasa has started referring to this Sun spot absence as a Mini Maunder Minimum, but you are correct, it refers to a particular time in history that has the Maunder name.

But, Al Gore isn’t exactly a History buff, he is more into predicting the Future with Computer “models” that other people produce for him.


117 posted on 01/11/2009 5:26:21 PM PST by 4Speed
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To: justa-hairyape

So, how long do we have before the glaciers cover up most of canada?


118 posted on 01/11/2009 7:00:19 PM PST by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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To: mamelukesabre
So, how long do we have before the glaciers cover up most of canada?

In the short term the problems will be frostbite, starvation and wars over energy resources. See the current Russian/European Gas Conflict for an example of the latter. We will have a few more examples of the frostbite and starvation problems shortly, just as they occurred last winter. I can post images of the frostbite that occurred in Asia last year, but the images are rather grotesque.

119 posted on 01/11/2009 8:29:40 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: justa-hairyape

Ok, but just so i have an idea of what we are looking at here...

Has anyone tried to predict how fast the glaciers would advance assuming the current rate of cooling continues? i know it won’t. These things are cyclical. But just for the sake of argument, lets say the cooling rate holds indefinitely. How long before the whole arctic circle is just one solid block of ice year round?


120 posted on 01/11/2009 8:38:34 PM PST by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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