[FARC] Solar Minimum

Tue Apr 21 15:03:03 EDT 2009

Forwarded on

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alfred Laun" <hs0zar at gmail.com>
To: "PVRC" <pvrc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 18:21
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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