Spring Starts Sunday, But Why Has the Date Changed?

SPACE.com ^ | posted: 18 March 2005 | By Joe Rao

[whereasandsoforth]

This makes my head swim. It took me years to catch on to the "floating Easter" concept. Now I understand that Easter is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. I'm old. I get confused.

[exit82]

Oh no--you mean the shrinking of the ozone hole at the poles is a naturally occurring event?

Time to crank up the air conditioners then!!

[Salvation]

March 21 always, isn't it?

[PeaceBeWithYou]

All that is true, as well as Mt. Erebus as a source of the Cl and Br.

But, also remember that diatomic oxygen absorbs the highest-energy ultraviolet radiation from the sun, namely, all radiation with wavelengths shorter than 240 nm. However, there is a great deal of ultraviolet radiation between 240 nm and 290 nm that is not absorbed by O2 molecules. This radiation is absorbed by ozone.

The ozone in the stratosphere is produced by photochemical reactions involving O2. When diatomic oxygen in the stratosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation with wavelengths less than 240 nm, it breaks apart into two monotonic oxygen atoms.

The resulting oxygen atoms combine with O2 molecules to form ozone.

O(g) + O2(g)=>>O3(g)

This reaction is exothermic, and the net effect of the previous two reactions is the conversion of three molecules of O2 to two molecules of ozone with the simultaneous conversion of light energy to heat. Ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation with wavelengths as long as 290 nm. This radiation causes the ozone to decompose into O2 molecules and oxygen atoms.

This, too, is an exothermic reaction. The overall effect of this reaction and the previous reaction is the conversion of light energy into heat. Thus, ozone in the stratosphere prevents highly energetic radiation from reaching the Earth's surface and converts the energy of this radiation to heat, and as long as there is oxygen(O2) and sunlight you will have ozone(O3) in short order.

The Freon ban used ozone destruction as a scaretactic. It wasn't about ozone as much as it's about greenpeace's war on chlorine, technology, and man.

[Ragnar54]

Longer warm seasons in the Northern Hemisphere correspond to longer cold seasons in the Southern half. Which seems to be consistent with:

"Further evidence that the Antarctic as a whole is in the midst of a cooling trend comes from the study of Watkins and Simmonds (2000), who analyzed region-wide changes in sea ice. Reporting on trends in a number of Southern Ocean sea ice parameters over the period 1987 to 1996, they found statistically significant increases in sea ice area and total sea ice extent, as well as an increase in sea ice season length since the 1990s. Combining these results with those from a previous study revealed these trends to be consistent back to at least 1978. And in another study of Antarctic sea ice extent, Yuan and Martinson (2000) report that the net trend in the mean Antarctic ice edge over the last 18 years has been an equatorward expansion of 0.011 degree of latitude per year. "

From:
New Antarctic study disputes CO2 Global warming link

Milankovitch theorized some effects of precession on climate. The summaries I have seen of his work emphasize solar angle and proximity. Do you know if he took the variation in the length of the warm seasons into account?

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[geopyg]

Winter: 88.994 days

Spring: 92.758 days

Summer: 93.651 days

Autumn: 89.842 days


I'm not sure what all this stuff about "models" and CO2 and O2 and all that other scientifical stuff has to do with global warming. It's 'cuz are summers are longer than our winters.

[Bob]

Now I understand that Easter is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

There are many people who seem to think it's the first Sunday after Christmas. :=)

[E.G.C.]

BTT!!!!!!

[SierraWasp]

Oh! (gasp) It's YOU, bob!!!

(remember the old commercials with that great theme?)

[SierraWasp]

Why you pingin me to a two or three day old thred??? Especially one about dates on the calendar??? You had me all cornfused!!!

Interesting thred, just phunny how easily it can mix up an imprecise soul as the Waspman...

[Dan Evans]

I thought that gravitational attraction between two bodies was dependant on their masses, and of course distance,

 Yes, this is true.

But...

1) The speed of an object is changed when it is moving at other than right angles to the line between it and the other object.

2) The Earth is not a single object. The oceans move with respect to the land.

3) The Moon causes a tidal bulge on the Earth's oceans.

4) But the tidal bulges produced on Earth by the Moon are not centered at the point on Earth's surface directly below the Moon, but are shifted ahead of the Moon because of Earth's faster spin rate.

The net result is that the center of mass of the Earth is always slightly ahead of the Moon and so it is constantly increasing the Moon's speed. And the Earth's rotation is slowed.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It's George Bush's fault.

[farmfriend]

Why you pingin me to a two or three day old thred???

I had nothing to do!!!

[SierraWasp]

Well after bein back in the nations Crapitol, yer bored, right?

[farmfriend]

Well after bein back in the nations Crapitol, yer bored, right?

No just a little tired of all terri all the time.

[razorback-bert]

I am going to Alaska to see the glaciers this September, I sure hope they don't melt before I get there.

[SierraWasp]

Well, I'm gonna post Schwarzenegger's big swipe at seniors using MediCal's benefits in place of buying Long Term Care insurance. That oughta break up the monotony...