Solar activity at 8000 year high

[Ivan Seeking]

The Sun is More Active Now than Over the Last 8000 Years

An international team of scientists has reconstructed the Sun's activity over the last 11 millennia and forecasts decreased activity within a few decades

The activity of the Sun over the last 11,400 years, i.e., back to the end of the last ice age on Earth, has now for the first time been reconstructed quantitatively by an international group of researchers led by Sami K. Solanki from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany). The scientists have analyzed the radioactive isotopes in trees that lived thousands of years ago. As the scientists from Germany, Finland, and Switzerland report in the current issue of the science journal "Nature" from October 28, one needs to go back over 8,000 years in order to find a time when the Sun was, on average, as active as in the last 60 years. Based on a statistical study of earlier periods of increased solar activity, the researchers predict that the current level of high solar activity will probably continue only for a few more decades. [continued]

http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrat...tion/pressReleases/2004/pressRelease20041028/

 

[T.Roc]

I have also read recently, that the sun was entering a very low period of activity.

??

TRoc

 

[matthyaouw]

T.Roc- note that it is a 60 year average. More recent trends over the past few years could show a reduction, in activity, but still produce a high average.
(I'm speculating, so don't take what i say to be accurate. simply a suggestion)

 

[T.Roc]

maybe we are not on the same page...

Ivan Seeking, what affects are you talking about? sun spots, flares, EM bursts...

TRoc

 

[T.Roc]

never mind, I found the original article.

and a source for my statement:
"This kind of solar activity is getting increasingly rare as we enter into the quiet period of the Sun's eleven-year cycle of activity. The years 2000-2001 marked the highest point of activity, but that doesn't preclude the occasional surprise like this week's CMEs. Even more significant were the intense solar storms that raged about a year ago.

Source: NASA (by Steele Hill & Rachel A. Weintraub NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) "

So, maybe it's fair to say we Should be in the quiet period, but something has changed this pattern temporarily.

With so much more carbons in the air, is it true to conclude more mass, and a "drawing" of the Sun's magnetic energy towards us? Field changes, etc.

TRoc

 

[pebrew]

the total mass of Earth and its atmosphere has not changed and that is what determines the Earth's gravitational force. the overall mass of the atmosphere has only changed very very slightly, if at all, due to CO2 emissions.
in addition, the EM forces of the Earth's magentic field have a far greater effect on the trajectory of ions and radiation from the sun than gravity would (i'm talking on the scale of many powers (10^4 at least).

 

[T.Roc]

pebrew ,

I wasn't inferring to a gravitational effect. Just (theoretically) at something like the northern lights. We see them when solar activity is high AND atmospheric particles are highly distributed in the area.

So,... with the total increase of electrons from heavier (mass) elements/molecules in the atmosphere, with their spins aligning with the Earth's, the magnetic field changes. The resonant state of the field would absorb the same frequencies from the Sun as the Earth does, rather than setting up conditions to reflect the frequencies (from CME, etc.).

food for thought - spit, chew, or swallow?

TRoc

 

[Andre]

A little apples and oranges equation right here?


It would be interesting to see if the field strenght of the Earth magnetic field is related to climate and weather, assuming that the bending of ionized particles would have influence on precipretation patterns and hence weather.

This study thinks not, based on a spectral (fourrrier) analysis of assumed long frequency global temperatures and the variations of magnetic field strenght.

However, here we have a brand new study, indicating a positive feedback on solar radiation flux and temperatures. One could presume that the variation of charged cosmogenic particles may have something to do with that positive feedback.

 

[T.Roc]

Andre,

interesting links.
thanks

TRoc

 

[BoulderHead]

Solar activity at 8000 year high

Sounds like a fantastic reason for purchasing those new solar panels I've been eyeballing...