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"All Quiet Alert" Issued For the Sun

radioweather writes "The phrase sounds like an oxymoron, and maybe it is, but the sun is extremely quiet right now, so much in fact that the Solar Influences Data Center in Belgium issued an unusual 'All quiet alert' on October 5th. Since then the sunspot number has remained at zero — solar cycle 24 has not yet started. There are signs that the sun's activity is slowing. The solar wind has been decreasing in speed, and this is yet another indicator of a slowing in the sun's magnetic dynamo. There is talk of an extended solar minimum occurring. There are a number of theories and a couple of dozen predictions about the intensity solar cycle 24 which has yet to start. One paper by Penn & Livingstonin in 2006 concludes: 'If [trends] continue to decrease at the current rate then the number of sunspots in the next solar cycle (cycle 24) would be reduced by roughly half, and there would be very few sunspots visible on the disk during cycle 25.' We'll know more in about six months what the sun decides to do for cycle 24."

14 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sunspot numbers by srmalloy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    However, since the historical record shows that the worst part of the Little Ice Age occurred during the Maunder Minimum, when the sunspot level was also atypically low for a protracted period, then if the current conditions on the Sun continue for long enough, it should provide evidence that would either confirm or debunk the premise that global warming is a function of fluctuations in solar activity. Unfortunately, as the controversy has assumed the status of a holy war, regardless of what happens, both sides will accuse the other of misinterpreting the data and persist in their claims.

  2. Re:Sunspot numbers by kannibul · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Amazing - it happens to correspond with the temperature "fears" relating to Global Warming and Cooling.

    During the 60's and 70's, there was talk of a near-future Ice Age. During the 90's and today, there is talk of the ice caps melting and so on.

  3. Re:no sunspots huh? by N3WBI3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Right.... The lesser greenhouse gas (both in amount and effectiveness) being the thing driving temperature is not absurd but the sun doing it is absurd? Lets wait and see what happens over a protracted period of time... I'm not sold on one theory or the other but to swear off either at this point it the equivalent of a blinding religious crusade.

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  4. Re:That's the Maunder Minimum by missing000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, uh... are we or aren't we all going to die?
    yes.
  5. Re:Let me be the first to say... by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    On a side note I find it interesting that people keep track of this sort of thing. Sunspots and such. And I thought some of the databases _I_ parse through all day were boring. Keeping an eye on a 870,000 mile wide ball of fusing hydrogen near us sounds pretty interesting to me.
    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  6. Re:OMG, History is Repeating Itself by geekoid · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No one doubts thoes effects, and if you think the issue is 'only people cause global climate change' then your a fucking nitwit.

    The issue has to do with speed, and considering there is NO DATA that correlates the suns changing temperature with the global climate change we are currently experiencing, your post doesn't even belong here.

    The only political issue is caused by people pushing there anti human influenced climate change agenda, ALL OF WHICH has been disproved.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  7. Re:That's the Maunder Minimum by ZombieWomble · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I don't think anyone even remotely considers the 11-year cycle to be the be-all and end-all of sunspot measurement any more - it's sufficient for projects which won't last much longer than that timeframe, but there are myriad cycles which are potentially demonstrated by the data (Wikipedia lists more than a dozen purported cycles with citations to various bits of scientific literature, and I'm sure the list is far from exhaustive).

    The problem is, of course, trying to model this in a meaningful way - thanks to Fourier transforms we know that you can build any given pattern out of a sufficiently large collection of cyclic processes, which makes these cycles upon cycles upon cycles feel a bit iffy to me. Feels much more like a chaotic process with long periods of stable equilibrium, which means that while cycles may be useful for general short-term work, their predictive power is always hampered by the fact that the system may abruptly change in unpredictable ways.

  8. Re:That's the Maunder Minimum by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    NASA prediction was solid based upon the data they had. As more data came in, predictions(forecasts, actually) were adjusted. Welcome to science, please stay for the ride.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. Re:no sunspots huh? by N3WBI3 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Well we have a choice dont we:

    We can all go with CFB's like Gore says and put more mercury in our landfills

    We can try ethonal only to discover that (1) it uses more greenhouse gases and (2) the rise on staple crop cost are more likely to cause war and resource fighting than global warming itself.

    We can all drive hybrids, never mind they are one of the *least* recyclable cars and no long term plan has been put into place for how to deal with the oodles of battery acid..

    Please understand by long term I mean a decade to study thing further, when you become a reactionary for almost any cause you will, in the end, do more harm than good..

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  10. Re:Sunspot numbers by Gerzel · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yes but today there are those pesky things such as those ice caps actually receding and the fabled NW passage opening.

  11. Selective perception by benhocking · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I'm guessing by your user ID that you've been here long enough to know how many different ways you're wrong (with such a short post, too!), but just in case:
    1. The "talk" of a near-future Ice Age was from a few scientists and was not supported by the mainstream. Just like the "talk" today that there's no anthropogenic global warming.
    2. The most recent sunspot minimum (2005) coincided with the hottest year ever recorded for our planet! (Or second-hottest, depending on which set of numbers you use. Also, just to head you off at the pass, note that I mentioned the planet and not just the United States.)
    3. There is more than just "talk" of the ice caps melting. We just surpassed the previous minimum Arctic sea-ice records by more than 20%!! (Meanwhile, while the Antarctic sea-ice area reached a maximum, the total mass continues to decline.)
    Of course, you probably know all this already. If not, and you'd like links for any of this, let me know.
    --
    Ben Hocking
    Need a professional organizer?
  12. Re:That's the Maunder Minimum by tjstork · · Score: 1, Insightful

    NASA prediction was solid based upon the data they had. As more data came in, predictions(forecasts, actually) were adjusted. Welcome to science, please stay for the ride.

    Yeah, but they were still WRONG. That's the whole thing. Scientists that make good predictions are smart scientists, and the ones that are wrong, are stupid. Tough break, but everyone else is judged by the same standard. George Bush doesn't get a pass for guessing incorrectly on WMD, a CEO doesn't get a pass for bad financials, developers don't get a pass for making a bad timeline and budget estimate, and for that matter, neither does anyone else. Humanity is in the business of predicting the future, and we all pay the price when we guess wrong, and it shouldn't be any different for those idiots that predicted we'd have a ton of hurricanes, but none came.

    --
    This is my sig.
  13. Re:Obviously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    A rebuttal:

    a) The amount of incoming radiation DOES change though. The fluctuation does correlate to current trends, better then CO2 levels do. Current hypothesis show a direct link between cloud formation and solar output, and a direct link between cloud levels and energy available for absorption. Given that the highest guess for a doubling of CO2 (some guessed number) results in a increase of 2 wm2 (from 2 wm2 current hypothesis) potential warming, it is strong dwarfed by the change of 120 wm2 that can be the affect of a cloud. To the study concerning the affects of cosmic rays (still understudy, but very interesting, and marks a strong relationship): http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/sky-experiment_2.pdf Calling the Sun and it's actions, especially when Mars, Jupiter and several other planets are experiencing the same thing "irrelevant" kinda of a strong but incorrect statement.

    b) Kinda wrong. According to the Global Warming Hypothesis, if CO2 was the major affect warming the atmosphere, it would affect the Troposphere the most, with the Troposphere being warmer then the surface. BUT, after the aforementioned satellite studies, they found that the Troposphere is 1C cooler then the surface. Link: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=1824

    c) A large fraction. 14% of the increase. 85% is still natural, and that means a whopping total of 3-4% of the total amount of CO2 is from our fossil fuel release. A good page on the true amounts is laid out here: http://mysite.verizon.net/mhieb/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html Before you start trying to chop down the messenger, look at the references. The EPA and the IPCC. And the site adds in the amount of Water Vapor to the affect. Something you have not brought up, even though it is the largest greenhouse gas, amounting to 95% of the total affect.

    d) The oceans absorb and release CO2 based on their temperature. There are both the largest absorber and largest releaser of CO2. 20 times what humans produce. And the ocean can easily absorb more CO2 then we, as human, have access to produce through all of our fossil fuels before it becomes noticeable acidic. You claim is correct, but with NO relative reference it is a worthless point. Gif from NASA: http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/casa/CO2-cycle.gif

    e) Right on some, but in all dishonest by omission. Like I posted above, without the relative numbers, you are dismissing one part without allowing anything relative to be mentioned. I would like to see a link to what you say on C12/C14 ratios. Oh, if you google it be careful, because you just end up proving the earth is only 10,000 years old. Bad argument.

    Summary:

    a) Wrong
    b) Wrong
    c) Close. BUT: Still dwarfed by all other sources of CO2 emissions. And CO2 is still only the 3% of the total GHE.

    Please, if you have some facts to rebut this, lay them down. With links please.

    Josh

  14. Re:Quick! Alert the scientific community! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No, I am drawing a link between the article and humor.

    But isn't humor meant to be funny?