Archive for May 23rd, 2013

NASA study finds that carbon dioxide may help to cool the planet

For quite some time now, whenever someone has felt the need to explain the basics of the theory of anthropogenic global warming to me (the theory that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents heat from escaping Earth by reflecting it back towards Earth) I have felt compelled to pose the question “but if carbon dioxide reflects heat, would it not also reflect heat from the sun back in to space, negating any excessive reflective action it may have on heat which is already on Earth?”. This usually results in me being scoffed at and told that I just don’t understand the science.

How interesting it is then that a recent NASA study (and remember, NASA has been one of the main proponents of the theory of man-made warming) seems to prove me right.

A recent flurry of eruptions on the sun did more than spark pretty auroras around the poles. NASA-funded researchers say the solar storms of March 8th through 10th dumped enough energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years.

“This was the biggest dose of heat we’ve received from a solar storm since 2005,” says Martin Mlynczak of NASA Langley Research Center. “It was a big event, and shows how solar activity can directly affect our planet.”

Mlynczak is the associate principal investigator for the SABER instrument onboard NASA’s TIMED satellite. SABER monitors infrared emissions from Earth’s upper atmosphere, in particular from carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitric oxide (NO), two substances that play a key role in the energy balance of air hundreds of km above our planet’s surface.

“Carbon dioxide and nitric oxide are natural thermostats,” explains James Russell of Hampton University, SABER’s principal investigator. “When the upper atmosphere (or ‘thermosphere’) heats up, these molecules try as hard as they can to shed that heat back into space.”
[..]
For the three day period, March 8th through 10th, the thermosphere absorbed 26 billion kWh of energy. Infrared radiation from CO2 and NO, the two most efficient coolants in the thermosphere, re-radiated 95% of that total back into space.
[..]
“This is a new frontier in the sun-Earth connection,” says Mlynczak, “and the data we’re collecting are unprecedented.”

5% of the energy which was received from the sun made its way through to the planet’s surface. This is to be expected as we obviously receive enough energy from the sun at ground level to keep warm and to see sunlight etc, but 95% of the energy was absorbed and sent back out in to space through a process of temporary heating of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. Surface heat making its way up to the atmosphere could very easily have a similar effect in that it heats up the atmosphere, causing the majority of the heat to be radiated back out in to space while a small amount (5% based on this study) to stay on Earth.

Principia Scientific International’s Alan Siddons concurs with this.

Over at Principia Scientific International (PSI) greenhouse gas effect (GHE) critic, Alan Siddons is hailing the findings. Siddons and his colleagues have been winning support from hundreds of independent scientists for their GHE studies carried out over the last seven years. PSI has proved that the numbers fed into computer models by [NASA’s chief climatologist, Dr James] Hansen and others were based on a faulty interpretation of the laws of thermodynamics. PSI also recently uncovered long overlooked evidence from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) that shows it was widely known the GHE was discredited prior to 1951.
[..]
As PSI’s own space scientists have confirmed, as solar energy penetrates deeper into our atmosphere, even more of its energy will end up being sent straight back out to space, thus preventing it heating up the surface of our earth. The NASA Langley Research Center report agrees with PSI
[..]
To those independent scientists and engineers at Principia Scientific International this is not news. The “natural thermostat” effect of CO2 has long been known by applied scientists and engineers how have exploited it’s remarkable properties in the manufacturer of refrigerators and air conditioning systems. The fledgling independent science body has repeatedly shown in it’s openly peer reviewed papers that atmospheric carbon dioxide does not cause global warming nor climate change.

The findings of this study show that carbon dioxide is less of a heater and more of a cooler, although it could also point to carbon dioxide not really being a heater or a cooler, but a regulator. Either way it shows that the sun’s cycles have more to do with the earth’s temperature and climate than carbon dioxide levels, especially given that despite consistent increases in carbon dioxide levels over the last few decades, we have not seen any statistically significant warming of the planet in the last 17 years.

The links between the sun and the climate becomes even more clear when historical records of solar activity are checked against temperature records as there is a remarkable correlation between the two. Perhaps now we are starting to understand the science behind the link. I look forward to more research in to this link in the future.

Samuel

5 comments May 23rd, 2013 at 09:12am

AFL Tips: Round 8 results

I dare say that I owe my positive score this week to Hawthorn’s large victory over GWS.

West Coast V North Melbourne -2
Essendon V Brisbane -10
Hawthorn V GWS +83
Gold Coast V Western Bulldogs -32
Collingwood V Geelong +6
Sydney V Fremantle — DRAW +/-0
Carlton V Port Adelaide -18
Richmond V Melbourne +34
Adelaide V St. Kilda -40

Round 8 total: +21

Samuel's round-by-round scores

Previous rounds
AFL Round 1 total: +199
AFL Round 2 total: +148
AFL Round 3 total: +138
AFL Round 4 total: +8
AFL Round 5 total: -96
AFL Round 6 total: +86
Round 7 total: -19

Total for the year so far: +485

Samuel's total scores

How did you go this week? You might want to check out Luxbet AFL Betting next time. Luxbet is backed by TAB.
If you had picked the winners in this AFL round, you would have yielded $509.50 from a $5 bet from Luxbet AFL Betting.

Samuel

May 23rd, 2013 at 08:28am

NRL Tips: Round 10 results

Some very big scores going my way gave me a big boost this week.

Broncos V Titans +26
Rabbitohs V Tigers +44
Dragons V Eels -20
Panthers V Warriors +56
Cowboys V Roosters -4
Sharks V Raiders +10
Knights V Bulldogs -36
Storm V Sea EaglesDRAW, +/-0

NRL Round 10 total: +76

Samuel's round-by-round scores

Previous rounds
NRL Round 1 total: -20
NRL Round 2 total: +24
NRL Round 3 total: -30
NRL Round 4 total: -12
NRL Round 5 total: +42
NRL Round 6 total: -53
NRL Round 7 total: +30
NRL Round 8 total: +4
NRL Round 9 total: +12

Total for the year so far: +73

Samuel's total scores

Here’s a freebie for the Luxbet folk as the draw resulted in a very interesting result. A $5 bet on the winners this week (if you picked the draw plus the winners) would have netted you $2738.40.

Samuel

May 23rd, 2013 at 08:14am

Technical problems with logging in to this blog

It has come to my attention that some people may be seeing a page which simply says “not acceptable” when they attempt to log in to this blog. This, unfortunately, is a necessary (and hopefully temporary) security measure which has been put in place by my web host VentraIP in order to combat an ongoing worldwide attack against WordPress installations. This security measure is outside of my control and I can not prevent this error message from appearing, however I can provide some help to overcome it.

The message should only appear if you load the login page a certain number times in a short period of time (as my web host has not made the exact number of page loads and the exact period of time available publicly, I will not disclose it at this time), and it should be noted that displaying the login page and submitting your username and password count as two separate loads of the login page.

If you see this message, your best option is to wait a couple minutes and try again. If that doesn’t help, try clearing your browser’s cache before trying again. Although the “not acceptable” page should not be cached by your browser, in my testing I found that my browser did cache it and was displaying it even when the server was trying to accept or decline a log in or log out attempt and serve up the appropriate page.

The attack against WordPress installations has been going on for quite some time now, so this security measure could be around for a while. As much of a nuisance as the security measure may be, it is far better than the alternative of having servers overloaded by automated attempts to break in to administrative accounts of WordPress installations; and even though I would like to see a greater number of loads of the login page permitted before the “not acceptable” message is displayed, I trust that my web host has not picked an arbitrary number and has instead picked a number which accurately reflects the necessary measures to limit the impact of the ongoing attack.

If problems persist, let me know and I’ll do what I can to help you log in.

Samuel

4 comments May 23rd, 2013 at 07:45am


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