Sunlight dimmed; no one noticed
Whenever a chunk of Antarctic ice breaks off, the national newscasts cover it. Whenever the ice in the Arctic thins out (especially if there is video of a forlorn polar bear), the national newscasts cover it. But when a fundamental part of the climate system that affects our weather and climate on a daily basis changes: crickets.
Sunspots (NASA)
On April 1, NASA announced that – contrary to predictions – 2008′s “deep solar minimum” has continued into 2009. 344 of the past 456 days have been sunspot-free, which sunspot expert David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center calls it the “quietest sun we’ve seen in almost a century.” Sunspots are created by magnetism on the sun’s surface, and seem to peak and decrease in cycles lasting approximately eleven years. While invisible to the naked eye, they are considered an indicator of solar activity. At the same time as announcing the continuation of the solar minimum, NASA also pointed out that during 2008 the earth received a 12 year low in solar irradiance; the sun’s brightness dropped by two one-hundredths of one percent at visible wavelengths since a previous solar minimum in 1996.
Sunspots by year (NASA)
2008 also marked a 50 year low in solar wind pressure and a 55 year low in solar radio emissions.
What does the lack of sunspots and solar acvitiy mean to our weather and climate? It depends on who you talk to, and on which side of the climate change debate they stand. For the record, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has dismissed solar activity as a significant contributor to global temperature change. But IPCC opponents can show convincing graphs matching sunspots numbers and global temperature cycles. A conclusive causal link evades both sides.
Regardless, it would seem NASA’s announcement of unusually diminished sun should at least make network news on the internet. But since such information does not fit with the news divisions’ “runaway climate change” drumbeat, they haven’t posted the story on the websites at CBS, NBC, or ABC. And you certainly won’t see it on the evening television newscasts – unless they can work in a polar bear.
