[SEDXC] FW: [PVRC] Solar Minimum and a Cooling Sun Baffles Astronomers and Climatologists

[Robert Carroll]

-----Original Message-----
From: pvrc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:pvrc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of Alfred Laun
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 2:22 PM
To: PVRC
Subject: [PVRC] Solar Minimum

While driving around town on my errands I often tune to All-News WTOP
-103.5 FM.  It's a good way to catch up on the news when there is
nothing else you can be doing anyway.

One of the programs they run regularly is a CBS feature "The Osgood
File."  Today I happened to hear this one, which I think will be of
interest to those like me who have been discussing propagation current
events.  Here it is:

OF4-04/21/09 9:25 AM

A QUIET SUN DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.



The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.



I know you've already got a lot to worry about as it is, but something
rather odd is going on --- on the Sun.



The Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity --- and last
year, it was supposed to have heated up --- and, at its peak, would
have a tumultuous boiling atmosphere, spitting out flares and huge
chunks of super-hot gas.



Instead, it hit a 50-year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in
radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity. Right now,
the sun is the dimmest it's been in nearly a century.



Did you know that? It's true. Astronomers are baffled by it, but has
the press covered the story? Hardly at all. Is the government doing
anything about it? No, it's not even in the Obama budget or any
Congressional earmarks.



But, sooner or later, I bet it will turn out to be our fault --- yours
and mine. And in Washington, where everything is political, they'll
note that it began before President Obama took office --- perhaps
"another example of the failed policies of the Bush Administration."


At an upcoming meeting of astronomers in the United Kingdom, they'll
be studying new pictures of the Sun taken from space, looking for any
hint that the Sun will start heating up again and acting up again, the
way it's supposed to. But there is no sign of that, so far.



In the mid-17th Century, there was a quiet spell on the Sun --- known
as the Maunder Minimum --- which lasted 70 years, and led to a
mini-Ice Age here on Earth.



Right now, global warming is a given to so many, it raises the
question: Could another minimum activity period on the Sun counteract,
in any way, the effects of global warming?



Hush, child! You're not even supposed to suggest that. The only thing
that can change global warming is if we human beings --- we Americans,
especially --- completely change our ways and our way of life.



I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this solar dimming business, now
that the story is out. Remember, you heard it here first...



The Osgood File. Transcripts, podcasts, and Mp3's of all these
programs can be found at theosgoodfile.com. I'm Charles Osgood on the
CBS Radio Network.



The Osgood File. April 21st, 2009.
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