Posted on 02/13/2002 7:08:17 AM PST by johniegrad
WASHINGTON -- Feeling like the day is dragging? Blame global warming.
Increased man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a global warming gas, is slowing the Earth's rotation, according to a new study by Belgian scientists published Tuesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
It's not much of a slowdown -- about 1.7 microsecond or 1.7 millionth of one second a year, according to co-author Michel Crucifix, a climate researcher at Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
The slowdown occurs because extra carbon dioxide expands the mass of the Earth's atmosphere from the Earth's surface. The change slows the Earth's rotation for the same reason that the spins of ice skaters slow when they extend their arms.
Crucifix's findings were based on runs of 14 different computer models.
Even without global warming, Earth has been slowing, mostly because the gravitational pull of the moon has been acting as a brake. Keepers of the master clock at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington generally add a leap second to official time every 12 to 18 months to compensate, said observatory spokesman Geoff Chester.
The effects of lunar braking plus global warming add up to this: A day in 2002 is about .002 seconds longer than it was in 1900, Chester said.
Not that you'd notice.
If you're banking on getting an extra minute of sleep, it'll be an extra 3 million years before you see that,'' Chester said.
So, if its the wamest winter on record - its global warming - if its the coldest winter on record its still global warming. Neat science.
The increase in carbon dioxide has never been shown to cause global warming, yet the press equates the two.
"Let's run this experiment 14 diferent ways. Oh! There it is! Proof! Global warming is causing the Earth to slow down by 1 trillionth of a second per year. We're all doomed"
At this rate, Christmas will never get here! Somebody get me Mcgyver on the phone.
I think this statement means that they ran the data 14 different ways until they got results they could try to publish. Kind of like throwing 100 independent variables into a computer and running analyses of variation on them until you arrive at a statistically significant result so you have something to write about. Only problem is that if you run enough data, you will eventually obtain "statistically significant" results by chance alone.
Kofi Anan tells everyone to walk outside, and stand looking east. Then we take two steps forward, first step being very soft and short. On the second step we leap and land on both feet. If everyone acts together, we can save the earth.
By the way, are they sure the decrease in speed isn't causing the global warming? Could they have it backwards?
Yea! Maybe he can attach some duct tape between the moon and the earth and fix everything.
I'm not sure Michel is male. Maybe it's a new Vulva she needs.
Might Also Cause Sky to Fall, They Warn
In other words, on a fantasy devoid of any observational data. You don't find any supporting evidence in NASA's satellite records of global atmosphere temps.
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