I have seen some indications of a cold winter to come and have posted about it but I read today that the solar cycle is at or nearing it's minimum and that as of today the solar flair activity is at its lowest for the longest period of time in 100 years.  Basically it has been a spotless month on the sun.

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Could be we are in for some nasty winters for the next couple of years.  I for one will get extra wood this year.   ;)

-P.

Hey Paul - want me to go and gun down a couple of son's of Beeches?  :-*

Well, in addition to the solar minimum, there's also the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which has entered its cool phase:

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So I'm guessing you're right.

However, there's also this:


wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2008 at 10:08pm:

Hey Paul - want me to go and gun down a couple of son's of Beeches?  :-*

Which pretty much guarantees some warm times for you in the near future.

Best,

George

I'm getting the feeling you are right about a very cold winter.  Crazzy freaking weather here anyway too.  High of 89 and desperate humidity yesterday, and the forcast today is only to reach 67? Drastic 20 degree difference.

Wow what a strange summer it was.

And as a result, Algore would like for you to send him $500 as a way of putting salve on your guilty conscience.

And for no money at all, I'll send you nice recipes to salve your winter chills.

AussieBrian wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 10:37am:

And for no money at all, I'll send you nice recipes to salve your winter chills.

That is sooooo insensitive to the plight of....of....well, of whatever it is that Algore says it is.

Hey Brew,

Is Al Gore your favorite person or what! ?  ;D   You know..... He invented the internet.  Without him, we wouldn't even know each other!   LOL!

Jeannie

Jeannie wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 11:23am:

Hey Brew, Is Al Gore your favorite person or what! ?  ;D   You know..... He invented the internet.  Without him, we wouldn't even know each other!   LOL! Jeannie

When Algore says "jump," I say "how high?"

When he says "turn down your thermostat," I say "how low?"

Algore appears to be a god among men.

Quote:

Algore would like for you to send him $500 as a way of putting salve on your guilty conscience

  No...it would be to help him pay his exorbitant electricity bill.

Well, Jesse skinned and quartered a doe on the weekend (crop damage) that had an 3/4 to an INCH of backfat.  

I'd say that's a good indication. :)

wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 12:19pm:

Jeannie wrote on Sep 3rd, 2008 at 11:23am: Hey Brew, Is Al Gore your favorite person or what! ?  ;D   You know..... He invented the internet.  Without him, we wouldn't even know each other!   LOL! Jeannie When Algore says "jump," I say "how high?" When he says "turn down your thermostat," I say "how low?" Algore appears to be a god among men.

I think Al got his message across the Solarians.  You will see that they listend to him and are conserving energy ;D

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Actualy the artical is interesting.  Sun spot activity plays a huge role in Earth climate and has driven the major swings in long term weather.
-P.

Can we ship Al to the sun when it starts running out of hot gas?

Quote:

Sun spot activity plays a huge role in Earth climate and has driven the major swings in long term weather.

Heretic! This is blasphemy! Prepare to meet your maker, and may God have mercy on your soul!

God...........here I was for the first few replies happy that this wasn't going to stumble into politics. As you know, I'm very tempted.   START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGESTART PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

We've had the coolest August that I can remember. So far September is hotter than usual.

Charlie

Charlie wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 4:14pm:

[size=12]God...........here I was for the first few replies happy that this wasn't going to stumble into politics.

Charlie, I don't ever STUMBLE into politics. Mine was a very purposeful saunter.

Besides, Al can't really be taken seriously in the realm of politics anymore, can he? He's more of an Elmer Gantry type now.

Then, with all the fear and anxiety, George Bush is Lonesome Rhodes?

Charlie

Yep,  it's going to be cold.  I already have my February fat.

Charlie wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 4:37pm:

Then, with all the fear and anxiety, George Bush is Lonesome Rhodes? Charlie

Yep. Sure. He's just a Face In the Crowd.

Actually, it's totally fashionable to blame anything and everything on George Bush, so you can blame the upcoming hard winter on him as well. Personally I don't give the guy that much credit, but we're all different.

Another sign I saw last weekend...When going up north I noticed the red pines and many, many of them had the outer bark stripped from the upper portions of the tree.  Squirrls do this for fodder and nesting.  I have not seen this for many years.  I remember the winters being very cold the years the bark was stripped.

Never could figure out why it was the red pine that they went for.  I know the upper bark  is sheet (~2 X 3") like and has the consistancy of cork.  Perhaps it is good insulation.  Is it edible to squirrls?  Anybody know?

-P.

Hey Paul.

Squirrels are in the rat family so their front teeth never stop growing.
They need to chew all the time to keep from being impaled by them.
Same thing happens with beavers.

Rolo.

Quote:

Actually, it's totally fashionable to blame anything and everything on George Bush, so you can blame the upcoming hard winter on him as well.

Way cool idea! Have to get that to Barack soon.  8-)

We're just trying to approach the level of blame foisted on Bill Clinton by everyone in the Bush administration......when all too often things went so wrong.

Charlie

Quote:

We're just trying to approach the level of blame foisted on Bill Clinton by everyone in the Bush administration......when all too often things went so wrong.

Well, based on his recent approval ratings, I'd say it's starting to stick! ;D Bravo Zulu!

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Charlie

Not much up on politics meself, but I'm starting on a chicken broth this morning so it'll be ready and waiting at dinner tomorrow evening.

Paul98 wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 1:12pm:

Sun spot activity plays a huge role in Earth climate change...

This looked similar to a comment in the article link posted.



Quote:

Svensmark, who recently published a book on the theory, says the relationship is a larger factor in climate change than greenhouse gases.

I would hope huge and larger weren't terms meant to imply certainty.



Quote:

'No Sun link' to climate change ...the contribution of humankind's greenhouse gas emissions has outweighed that of solar variability by a factor of about 13 to one. According to Terry Sloan, the message coming from his research is simple. "We tried to corroborate Svensmark's hypothesis, but we could not; as far as we can see, he has no reason to challenge the IPCC - the IPCC has got it right. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Quote:

More doubt on cosmic climate link Research has thrown further doubt on the notion that cosmic rays are a major influence on the Earth's climate. The idea that modern global warming is due to changes in cloudiness caused by solar influences on cosmic rays is popular with "climate sceptics". START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I have noticed the squirrels are gathering.


LOL, echo!

Kevin_M wrote on Sep 4^th, 2008 at 12:50pm:

Paul98 wrote on Sep 3rd, 2008 at 1:12pm: Sun spot activity plays a huge role in Earth climate change... This looked similar to a comment in the article link posted. Quote: Svensmark, who recently published a book on the theory, says the relationship is a larger factor in climate change than greenhouse gases. I would hope huge and larger weren't terms meant to imply certainty. [quote]'No Sun link' to climate change ...the contribution of humankind's greenhouse gas emissions has outweighed that of solar variability by a factor of about 13 to one. According to Terry Sloan, the message coming from his research is simple. "We tried to corroborate Svensmark's hypothesis, but we could not; as far as we can see, he has no reason to challenge the IPCC - the IPCC has got it right. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Quote:

More doubt on cosmic climate link Research has thrown further doubt on the notion that cosmic rays are a major influence on the Earth's climate. The idea that modern global warming is due to changes in cloudiness caused by solar influences on cosmic rays is popular with "climate sceptics". START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I have noticed the squirrels are gathering.


LOL, echo![/quote]

Note the ittle ice age in relationship to reduced sunspot activity.   ;)

-P.

wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 11:34pm:

Hey Paul. Squirrels are in the rat family so their front teeth never stop growing. They need to chew all the time to keep from being impaled by them. Same thing happens with beavers. Rolo.

The cork like nature of upper Red Pine Bark would not do much to wear down the teeth.   I think the teeth grow at a rate they wear with day to day activity.  If it was a sudden growth spurt in teeth I would think they would be better off gnawing on hardwood.  

-P.

Paul98 wrote on Sep 4^th, 2008 at 9:21pm:

Note the ittle ice age in relationship to reduced sunspot activity.

Granted, Paul.  A period from pre-Industrial to nascent Industrial.  Even some effects are variously credited up to the first half of the 20th century dependent upon reconstruction of solar brightness.  But no longer as viable an effect since the late 70's to 80, due to... changes.

from 2006 Nature


Quote:

The new study looked at observations of solar brightness since 1978 and at indirect measures before then, in order to assess how sunspots and faculae affect the Sun’s brightness. Data collected from radiometers on U.S. and European spacecraft show that the Sun is about 0.07 percent brighter in years of peak sunspot activity, such as around 2000, than when spots are rare (as they are now, at the low end of the 11-year solar cycle). Variations of this magnitude are too small to have contributed appreciably... START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Similarly concluded by IPCC.  


Here where you said:


Quote:

Sun spot activity plays a huge role in Earth climate change...

I took "climate change" as like global warming.  You may have simply meant cyclical weather conditions, which is in parallel with the topic of this thread.  Sun spots are falling from explainations as of late for global warming type climate change much more these days, to the point that in 2008, Nature wrote:

 

Quote:

Sun not to blame for global warming. A study has confirmed that there are no grounds to blame the Sun for recent global warming. The analysis shows that global warming since 1985 has been caused neither by an increase in solar radiation nor by a decrease in the flux of galactic cosmic rays The findings, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, ... comprehensive (and conclusive) (re)-analysis of solar trends concludes that the sum of natural changes in solar activity since 1985 would have cooled our climate, were it not for the strong warming effect of increased greenhouse gas concentrations.   But blaming the sun for recent global warming is no science-backed position anymore -- it is deliberate disinformation.