Free Republic

Global warming may be drawing the solar shades on some parts of the world, but the sun is shining brighter than ever in the Pacific Northwest. Solar energy researcher Frank Vignola at the University of Oregon says he's documented a 10 percent increase in the amount of sunlight shining on the Northwest over the past 10 years. That runs counter to recent findings that suggest that rising pollution has spurred a "global dimming" that has cut sunlight worldwide during the latter half of the 20th century. "We've seen the (sunlight) slowly but surely increase," said Vignola, who directs the UO's...

Great! Now the news media have fears over global dimming to exploit. As reported by The Seattle Times, the earth's surface allegedly gets 15 percent less sunlight today than it did in the 1950s. Their methodology is dubious, but researchers say they have measured the decline of solar radiation at hundreds of sites and discerned dimming, a global-warming byproduct that partially counteracts it. This is fascinating stuff until you realize it's poppycock piled on balderdash. To understand the reason only requires one to know the basics of "the greenhouse effect." It begins when short-wave solar radiation, not impeded by "greenhouse...