Slumrande sol i tre mediainslag

Det här handlar inte om solvetenskap utan nämner bara några medier som igår tog upp den låga solaktiviteten.

1) Sydsvenskan har artikeln "Stillsam sol dämpar jordens uppvärmning", där Lunds solforskare Henrik Lundstedt påpekar det statistiska sambandet mellan solaktivitet och jordens temperatur och att nedkylning senaste åren kan ha med låg solaktivitet att göra.

2) Danska Politiken hade igår artikeln "Solen mister sin udstråling". Enligt dem har även BBC haft en artikel. Hittar artikeln "'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers", med ett litet videoklipp. Uppdatering: Ser nu även en artikel i Daily Mail.
Uppdatering II: Ser att även Telegraph hade en artikel om detta.

3) Slutligen har amerikanske radioprataren Charles Osgood (enligt Wikipedia bl a invald i radions National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame) uttalat sig så här om den låga solaktiviteten:

(Här en ljudfil på inslaget.)

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...

(HT: Skeptic's Corner)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andra bloggar om: miljö, vetenskap, klimat, media, solen, solaktivitet, solfläckar, klimatförändring, klimatförändringar