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.
Exploratory!!! Spelunking :)
1) My own shaded parking space--everywhere;
2) My own air-conditioned bathroom stalls--everywhere;
3) Re-designed sidewalks that don't reflect light or store heat;
4) National and municipal parks re-designed to block sunlight and provide for a climate-controlled experience.
Failure to accomodate my handicap will result in a massive lawsuit before a liberal judge.
FMCDH(BITS)
You are bad. Go to your room.
FMCDH(BITS)
So am I.
FMCDH(BITS)
As a fair-skinned person, I’ve come to realize that I’m allergic to Global Warming®. As such, I’m protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act.
And to add to your list: some recent study (true!) predicts there will be NO red-heads by 2100 because of all the inter-racial mixing with predominant black-brunette-brown-eyed peoples. Therefore, as a former red-head (now grey) I demand my rights as a member of an endangered species! All red-heads (or former red-heads) should be given private, gov’t paid for, suites in the finest hotels so that we can be properly ‘protected’ from extinction!
This is stupid. The pattern strongly suggests a correlation with the Earth's magnetic field (like the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis).
It is well known that the Earth's magnetic field has been weakening, and it is expected to flip within the next millenium or so.
bump
Pinging ya to #26.
Climb on the train :)
To a hammer all questions look like nails.
Meanwhile in heaven, God is laughing his ass off.
Then, and only then, would he rule in your favor.
Sorry, kid, but them's the rules of the game today!
CA....
LOL!!! That's a classic!
CA....
Maybe the earth is becoming flat again.
Isn't everything?
Observed increases in water vapor in the atmosphere - a consequence of warming - may also make it easier for the clouds to form, he said.
Or a cause of warming. Water vapor is a "stronger" greenhouse gas than C02.
They are not unrelated you know. Until we understand the weather better, or at least have better computers to model it, we aren't likely to get better 3 day forecasts.
But then again, weather and climate are not the same thing. Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.
As the father of slightly reddish blond daughters and grandfather of one (so far) blond granddaughter, I can say our family is doing it's best to keep that from happening.
However my blond sister in law married a black haired and dark eyed guy and so did her daughter, and so our Great Nieces have dark eyes and hair.
OTOH, our dog has one dark eye, and one pale blue eye, thus bridging the gap so to speak.
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