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Solar peak expected in 2011-2012
CNN ^ | April 26, 2007 | AP - CNN

Posted on 04/26/2007 1:01:47 PM PDT by Islander7

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The peak of the next sunspot cycle is expected in late 2011 or mid-2012 -- potentially affecting airline flights, communications satellites and electrical transmissions. But forecasters can't agree on how intense it will be.

A 12-member panel charged with forecasting the solar cycle said Wednesday it is evenly split over whether the peak will be 90 sunspots or 140 sunspots.

The government's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, tracks space weather and forecasts its changes, which can affect millions of dollars worth of activities such as oil drilling, car navigation systems and astronauts.

Half of the specialists predicted a moderately strong cycle of 140 sunspots expected to peak in October of 2011, while the rest called for a moderately weak cycle of 90 sunspots peaking in August of 2012.

"We're hoping to achieve a consensus sometime in the next six to 12 months," said Douglas Biesecker, a space environment center scientist who is chairman of the forecast panel.

An average solar cycle ranges from 75 to 155 sunspots.

During an active solar period, violent eruptions occur more often on the sun, the agency said. Solar flares and vast explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, shoot highly charged matter toward Earth.

Making these predictions is important for many businesses, which have been asking for a forecast for nearly a year, Biesecker said.

Just like coastal residents want a hurricane forecast as early as possible, so do those affected by solar activity, said Joseph Kunches, chief of forecast and analysis at the center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: globalwarming; junkscience; solarmax
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To: Islander7

Gore will demand we sacrifice our carbon-rich lifestyle to the sun-god.


41 posted on 04/26/2007 2:03:19 PM PDT by Fitzcarraldo (If the Moon didn't exist, people would have traveled to Mars by now.)
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To: Constitution Day; Islander7

Thank you. This made my day. ^_^


42 posted on 04/26/2007 2:03:20 PM PDT by Constantine XIII
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To: needlenose_neely

Hmmm. Oct. 2011? pretty close estimate.


43 posted on 04/26/2007 2:07:35 PM PDT by wolfcreek (DON'T MESS WITH A NATION IN NEED OF MEDICATION !)
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To: Lazamataz
The Maya calendar charts out this progression through astrology, concluding that the current, fourth world will end sometime near the December solstice in 2012 (dates vary based on interpretation).

But of course it can be true ....of course this was the sister civilization to a bunch of chest-ripping, heart cutting cannibals ... so you might want to take it with a grain of salt. :)

44 posted on 04/26/2007 2:09:08 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (Killing all of your enemies without mercy is the only sure way of sleeping soundly at night.)
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To: Centurion2000
of course it can be true ....of course this was the sister civilization to a bunch of chest-ripping, heart cutting cannibals

Sounds like some people after my own heart.

Literally.

45 posted on 04/26/2007 2:12:26 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: Constantine XIII

Thailand?


46 posted on 04/26/2007 2:12:52 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: Lazamataz
The Mayan Calendar ends in 2012.

It coincides with the end of my liver...

47 posted on 04/26/2007 2:14:17 PM PDT by johnny7 ("Issue in Doubt." -Col. David Monroe Shoup, USMC 1943)
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To: henkster
Human CO2 emissions have lengthened the sunspot cycle!

If Gore said this, over half the libs would believe it was the truth! It is scary to realize how ignorant Americans are about science.

48 posted on 04/26/2007 2:14:19 PM PDT by sand88
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To: Lazamataz

Thailand!


49 posted on 04/26/2007 2:19:39 PM PDT by Constantine XIII
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To: johnny7
The Earth is merely a subatomic particle that exists on your liver.

When you die, in 2012, the Earth is doomed.

50 posted on 04/26/2007 2:20:00 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: jrg

Damn.. I thought you said “Hannity would only last four years”. lol


51 posted on 04/26/2007 2:40:05 PM PDT by dc-zoo
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To: Lazamataz
When you die, in 2012, the Earth is doomed.

That was in my last Tarot reading...

52 posted on 04/26/2007 2:49:18 PM PDT by johnny7 ("Issue in Doubt." -Col. David Monroe Shoup, USMC 1943)
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To: Lazamataz

Yeah, I heard the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. Think there is a connection? Seems like everything is lining up for a Big Bang ending.


53 posted on 04/26/2007 4:27:41 PM PDT by needlenose_neely
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To: Islander7
After months of absolutely no activity and no sunspots on the sun, suddenly huge sunspot 953 jumps into view.


54 posted on 04/26/2007 6:01:35 PM PDT by JustDoItAlways
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To: Islander7
Coast-to-Coast Alert!

Stand by for George Noory and Art Bell!

55 posted on 04/26/2007 6:07:01 PM PDT by happygrl (Dunderhead for HONOR)
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To: Constantine XIII
Thank you. This made my day. ^_^

Glad to help out.

Smiles (and sense) are rare on this site anymore.

56 posted on 04/26/2007 6:37:15 PM PDT by Constitution Day
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To: JustDoItAlways

And possibly another one behind it.

http://www.solarcycle24.com/


57 posted on 04/26/2007 6:38:33 PM PDT by Excellence (Three million years is enough! Stop cyclical climate change now!)
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To: Constitution Day

No joke, brother. Where’d the funny go? Where’d our memes go?
Where’s all of the great FR-grown art that was everywhere just a few short years ago? Thailand?

Are my FR settings wrong? Am I logged in?

I just can’t tell any more!


58 posted on 04/26/2007 6:46:34 PM PDT by Constantine XIII
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To: Constantine XIII
I'm logged in, but there are many* here who seem not to be.

I'm just getting weary of it. Things are way too serious and nasty. How FR has fallen!

59 posted on 04/26/2007 6:52:34 PM PDT by Constitution Day (*Not the least of which are the politically unrealistic)
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To: Constitution Day; Constantine XIII
Where’d the funny go? Where’d our memes go? Where’s all of the great FR-grown art that was everywhere just a few short years ago?

I've wondered the same myself.

It was the Incredible visual graphic jokes that caught my attention during the 2000 election and kept me coming back.

Registered and others were amazing.

More sober times ?

60 posted on 04/26/2007 6:58:17 PM PDT by happygrl (Dunderhead for HONOR)
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