Posted on 04/03/2007 10:04:27 AM PDT by Dacb
Since their discovery 120 years ago, strangely luminescent clouds called noctilucent clouds have been creeping slowly toward the equator.
Once confined to Earth's poles, the bizarre clouds have now been spotted above central Colorado, and they appear to be getting brighter and more numerous, too, said David Rusch, a University of Colorado atmospheric scientist.
This month, NASA plans to launch the $110 million AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) mission to measure noctilucent clouds and the circumstances in which they form - which may be linked to climate change.
The satellite will measure air temperature and pressure, moisture content and cloud dimensions.
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder will control the satellite, process data and try to understand what some call the planet's most mysterious clouds.
Noctilucent clouds appear only at night, when their altitude - 50 miles up in the atmosphere - lets them catch sunlight no longer visible from Earth's surface, said James Russell, an atmospheric scientist at Hampton University in Virginia, the NASA mission's principal investigator.
That makes noctilucent - "night-shining" - clouds appear almost iridescent, he said. Most normal clouds are less than 10 miles up.
"They're very beautiful, they look very mysterious, but aside from all that, these clouds are changing in ways we don't understand," Russell said.
Researchers have many ideas about why noctilucent clouds may be growing in number and brightness, and most of them are related to global warming.
The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which warms Earth's surface, paradoxically cools the upper atmosphere, CU's Rusch said.
Noctilucent clouds - which are made of ice crystals, not water droplets - need very cold temperatures to form, he said.
In the atmosphere's coldest reaches, there's very little water vapor, a key ingredient for cloud formation, Rusch said.
Observed increases in water vapor in the atmosphere - a consequence of warming - may also make it easier for the clouds to form, he said.
Methane, another powerful greenhouse gas, may also be involved, said Scott Bailey, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Methane's presence can increase the amount of water in the upper atmosphere, through a complicated chemical dance.
Scientists don't know enough yet to definitively call noctilucent clouds harbingers of climate change, Russell said.
"But right now, we don't have another explanation," he admitted. "We don't have enough information about them. Hopefully, in this mission, we'll be able to get it."
Staff writer Katy Human can be reached at 303-954-1910 or khuman@denverpost.com.
The CHEM-TRAILS ARE COALESCING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And they were first discovered 120 years ago? Right around the time when The Little Ice Age was ending? Fascinating.
Since their discovery 120 years ago, strangely luminescent clouds called noctilucent clouds have been creeping slowly toward the equator....
This month, NASA plans to launch the $110 million AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) mission to measure noctilucent clouds and the circumstances in which they form - which may be linked to climate change.
So the industrial revolution on 1887 was to blame for these? Or is it possible that man is not the cause of cyclical global warming trends in the universe?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Researchers have many ideas about why noctilucent clouds may be growing in number and brightness, and most of them are related to global warming.
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Bush should be very happy they have found a new scapegoat. It must be global warming......the new answer for everything.
‘And they were first discovered 120 years ago?’
Circa Krakatoa
Yeah, I am so glad
I pay my taxes. Nothing
I could spend it on
is as useful as
getting the 411 on
glow-in-the-dark clouds . . .
Arrival!
LOL!
In the atmosphere's coldest reaches, there's very little water vapor, a key ingredient for cloud formation, Rusch said. Observed increases in water vapor in the atmosphere - a consequence of warming - may also make it easier for the clouds to form, he said.
Water vapor is tremendously more effective as a greenhouse gas than mere Carbon Dioxide. Seems this gent is putting the cart before the horse. The clouds just might be contributing to the warming...not the result of it.
They attach the Global Warming link to it to make the study appear useful.
They attach the global warming tag in the hope of ensuring funding. The clouds themselves are, no doubt, an interesting phenomenon. Trouble is, there are lots of interesting phenomena. If you want funding, you need some kind of hook to hang your proposal on. GW is a good one, these days.
Pole shift.
Cool natural phenomena subject to nut-case loonytoon conspiracy theorist misinterpretation on isle 12.
What a dumb statement. Don't they know EVERYTHING is related to climate change? My dog is going deaf due to climate change.
Global warming is Bush's fault.
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"NASA's Mike Griffin defends using NASA funds for weekend retreats with the tennis star Anna Kournikova as 'exploratory sessions to define the current global zeitgeist on global warming' . . ." |
And they were first discovered 120 years ago? Right around the time when The Little Ice Age was ending? Fascinating.
The University of Florida was the NCAA National Champion for basketball in 2006, the NCAA National Champion in football in 2007, and the NCAA National Champion in basketball in 2007. This is the first time in history a school has held both football and basketball titles.
I blame global warming.
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