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 ...
Gore will demand we sacrifice our carbon-rich lifestyle to the sun-god.
Thank you. This made my day. ^_^
Hmmm. Oct. 2011? pretty close estimate.
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. :)
Sounds like some people after my own heart.
Literally.
Thailand?
It coincides with the end of my liver...
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.
Thailand!
When you die, in 2012, the Earth is doomed.
Damn.. I thought you said “Hannity would only last four years”. lol
That was in my last Tarot reading...
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.
Stand by for George Noory and Art Bell!
Glad to help out.
Smiles (and sense) are rare on this site anymore.
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!
I'm just getting weary of it. Things are way too serious and nasty. How FR has fallen!
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 ?
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