Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Science

Hubble Back in Action

Slowly, this amazing instrument is becoming out-of-date, and things seem to be wearing out on it. Yet, because of backup systems, on-site repairs and remote engineering excellence, it keeps on ticking. Hopefully, it will remain functional until the James Webb Space Telescope becomes operational.

From NASA:

Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys Resumes Exploring the Universe

After a brief hiatus, the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, probing the far reaches of space in a quest to understand the true nature of the universe’s most dominant constituent: dark energy.

This is one of the first images of the universe taken after the ACS camera resumed science operation on July 4. The camera was offline for nearly two weeks as NASA engineers switched to a backup power supply after the camera’s primary power supply failed.


Image above: A cluster of galaxies with recent supernova. Image Credit: NASA.

02 Oct 2006 by Astronomy Science

Europe Greener in Spite of Climate Worries

The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change recently reviewed a study by European scientists to estimate changes in vegetation in the European continent between 1982 and 1999. The Center published an online report analyzing the study entitled Land Surface Temperatures and Plant Productivity of Europe: 1982-1999. The report deflates global warming and greenhouse gas disaster claims made by alarmists and political opportunists. The Center’s conclusion is as follows:

Considering the results in total, the Dutch and Spanish researchers conclude that, over the last two decades of the 20th century, “Europe as a whole has a tendency to greening,” and much of it is “seeing an increase in its wood land proportion.”

Within the context of today’s obsession over the ongoing rise in the air’s CO2 content and the many environmental catastrophes it has been predicted to produce, this observation is rather remarkable, in view of the fact that the world’s climate alarmists claim the CO2-induced global warming of the last two decades of the 20th century was unprecedented over the last two millennia, and that this phenomenon is claimed to be the greatest threat ever to be faced by the planet (worse, even, than nuclear warfare and global terrorism).

Apparently the climate and vegetation of Europe have not been informed that their recent actions are not politically correct!

The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change operates an excellent website that features a new lineup of articles every Wednesday. Please have a look at this interesting and informative website.

Visit the Climate and Global Warming Archive

28 Sep 2006 by Global Warming Science Whacko Politics

Hurricane Alarmists — Wrong Again!

In spite of predictions of Global Warming alarmists that hurricanes in 2006 would again devastate the Nation, largely due to the Administration’s non-participation in the Kyoto accords, the weather patterns aren’t supporting their theories.

World Climate Report, one of our favorite blogs, published another very interesting article about this. Unlike the alarmists who cherry-pick their talking points without actually doing any serious research, the authors at World Climate Report use actual science and quote their references.

More Stormy Weather Ahead for Hurricane Doomsayers

The work of Bengtsson et al. provide yet another example that the present and future of tropical storms, and the potential human impact on their frequency and intensity, is far, far from being settled in the pages of scientific journals, despite what you may be reading in the pages of your favorite newspaper.

[more]

Read about how the Sun is responsible for most of Earth’s climate fluctuations. Also visit our collection of articles on the topic of Global Warming.

19 Sep 2006 by Global Warming Science Whacko Politics

Correlating Sunspots to Global Climate

Unfamiliar with Solar phenomena? Read what the Sun is and how it does what it does:

More about Why Solar fusion activity is the primary 
mechanism for climate change on Earth — not people!

This is a study in two observations made over the last 400 years: observed annual sunspot numbers and derived global temperatures. The sunspot numbers were recorded by various solar observers since Galileo‘s time. Temperatures have been derived from scientific evidence such as ice and earth cores, and several other valid methods. These were collected by various climate studies and were compiled by NASA scientists to produce an animation of Earth’s climate changes over 399 years between 1599 and 1998.

Climate Change

First look at the NASA video that chronicles global temperature since 1599 AD:

Red indicates warmer surface temperature while blue indicates cooler. The little year clock, although difficult to read, ticks off the years in rapid succession from 1599 through 1998.

You should notice two things as you watch the animation:

  1. The Earth has generally been getting warmer
  2. Extended periods of cooler temperatures have occurred

Annual Sunspot Count

Next, look at this graphic depicting solar cycles and the number of sunspots counted each year:

You should notice two things as you observe this graphic:

  1. The sunspot count per year has been getting generally larger
  2. Extended periods of low sunspot numbers have occurred

Correlating The Two Phenomena Together

And finally, look at this two-minute presentation that ties both observations together:


©2006 Cap’n Bob

A few additional conclusions:

  1. The media will print or broadcast sensationalized headlines to sell copy regardless of scientific value
  2. The media will print or broadcast manipulated science with half-truths and invalid conclusions to damage politicians with whom they do not agree
  3. Politicians seize on these unverified claims in order to blame their opponents
  4. Uneducated/uninformed people are as gullible as ever

References

Update: Read about how cosmic rays interact with solar flux to alter Earth’s climate in a subsequent article.

26 Aug 2006 by Environment Global Warming Science

Behind the Rainbow Curtains

Lately, I’ve been studying solar phenomena because I think the topic is so critical to understanding the natural processes that affect global weather and climate. An interesting segué from the weather aspect, however, is into the subject of auroras – Aurora Borealis in the North and Aurora Australis in the South. What causes them?

Occasionally, we see auroras in Southern California, but it’s an extremely rare sight. The last auroral display I can remember seeing was way back in 1962, although other people have seen them several times since then. The UCLA webcam on Mount Wilson near Los Angeles recorded the image to the right on March 30, 2001.

Anyhow, back to the topic of what causes these elusive Rainbow Curtains — from SOHO and NASA — Space Weather:
Continue reading…

26 Aug 2006 by Astronomy Environment Science

Pluto Demoted to “Dwarf Planet”

UPDATE: Vote on Pluto’s planet status

Clyde Tombaugh must be turning over in his grave.

From AP via Forbes:

Astronomers Say Pluto Is Not a Planet – Forbes.com

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

Image: Pluto and moon Charon

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is – and isn’t – a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

[. . . ]

The decision by the prestigious international group spells out the basic tests that celestial objects will have to meet before they can be considered for admission to the elite cosmic club.

For now, membership will be restricted to the eight “classical” planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto doesn’t make the grade under the new rules for a planet: “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a … nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.”

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune’s.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of “dwarf planets,” similar to what long have been termed “minor planets.” The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun – “small solar system bodies,” a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.

It was unclear how Pluto’s demotion might affect the mission of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which earlier this year began a 9 1/2-year journey to the oddball object to unearth more of its secrets.

Update: Thanks to HYSCIENCE for the trackback and kind words.

24 Aug 2006 by Astronomy Science

Perspective

The following composite picture illustrates the significance of mankind’s contribution to global warming.

Photo courtesy of NASA/SOHO via Astronomy Picture of the Day

Try and picture all the tiny little critters on the surface of planet Earth trying to compete with a Solar Coronal Mass Ejection for climate effects. This sort of puts the relative significance of fossil fuel consumption in perspective, doesn’t it?

07 Aug 2006 by Astronomy Global Warming Science Whacko Politics

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