no solar maximum occurs roughly every 13 years, so if that was true then climate change would be much more...spastic. no one thing, man made or natural is to blame, its just a lot of bad things, bad luck and bad timing coming together.

Wow - Mark. First - try learning how to spell. Then you can graduate to learning how to write. As for the technical question, solar flares have nothing to do with global warming.

I hate it when people try to justify their intelligence by pointing out mistakes other people make so they can feel like they are intelligent, and think they know it all. This is for you all ( Contrari-Tom)from the bottom of my heart. SCREW YOU!!!!!! You wannabe, know it all idiots.

And radiation doesn't cause heat? In the summer it only gets warmer because the additional daylight hours cause bovines to flatulate more, geez everyone knows that!

Mark - When Coronal Mass Ejections come into contact with the Van Allen Radiation Belts, which are held in place by the Earth's magnetic fields, we generally observe the Aurora Borealis, or what is more commonly referred to as The Northern Lights. As we are dealing charged particles, alleged global warming/climate are not relevant. (very abridged)

solar - our - magnetic - global

No doughnuts and beer make Homer (Mark) go crazy...

you have no lives. point made

Ok, now your just messing with us and reposting. Stop already, I think people in here think there talking to a kid.

Not anymore than a current calendar maker getting tired of printing the same 12-month annual and deciding not to make one next year. It's not that time itself ends, just that the cyclical time recorded by the Mayans (which accurately records solar eclipses, Venutian eclipses, and other star activity) is starting over. You know, like December 31 is the day before January 1... The cycle keeps going. They don't need to "chisel" anymore because the solar/lunar/stellar patterns all start over.

True, the calendar doesn't end, it starts over. It's called a baktun and according to the Mayan's the 13th baktun is ending shortly,

Correction for you;

Only the magnetic North Pole is moving fast, at around 70km per year over the past 5 years. In fact, if it continues moving in it's current direction, it will be as close to the geographical North Pole in late 2012 as it ever has been since records began being kept by European navies centuries ago.

The South Magnetic Pole, which is currently about 1,800km away from the geographical South Pole, is moving at about a 3km per year average over the past five years. It has been trending slower.

There has not been any real signs of weakening in the Gauss strength of either pole, so I'd say put aside the wild apocalyptic notions for now.

Well it is just another in a line of events that tie together. This article here states "

Scientists expect these events to be more common in the coming years as the sun ramps up activity as part of its 11-year cycle. Solar maximum is predicted for around 2013." Seems to me that December 2012 is around 2013 lmao

Where did you go to school, or did you go to school? Your postulates make no sense,

Wow! All the loonies are out tonight, eh? I think someone already got hit by that neutron radiation.

But.. A-Smith....don't the Jews run NASA? ......and we all know that Foreign aid to Israel is why there are coronal mass ejections....

@Contrari, the gentleman above may not be able to spell, but at least he's trying to add content to the post rather than simply being a jacka$$.....

Hey @Contrari, maybe the person who can't spell is a 6 year old kid who has more knowledge about space than you.

Well, for one thing, "space weather" is constantly monitored by satellite and it is primarily there to use as a warning for commercial and government satellite services. It is also monitored by power companies, airlines and others. The measured data runs a pretty wide specturm of ionizing radiation as well as particles. Generally, the particles can be the most damaging to satellites and the good thing is that they travel slower than light speed so we see the X-ray and other radiation some time in advance. There are some minimal precautions that can be taken to help, plus being aware there is a risky situation, helps operators a bit more ready to react to a problem. There are tons of this data on NOAAs space weather website, including historical data going back quite a while.

Smith isn't entirely offbase because these solar storms can impact the magnetosphere which is a key part of our "force field". "Holes" or distortions can and do occur and it does present some degree of reduced protection. Where and at what time the potential "weakened" area lines up with a specific geographical location is pretty difficult to predict, however the polar regions are most likely to be the most effected. In fact, in heavy solar activity periods, flying commercial aircraft on polar routes can receive higher sub atomic energetic particle exposure. There is some genuine health concerns associated with this. The distortions in the magnetosphere are part of what can induce surges on long power transmission lines and they also set up the conditions for aurora displays in areas that usually don't see it. As far as we can tell, the earth's magnetic field doesn't get directly impacted, but the magnetosphere is a product of the earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, so if either changes, it creates changes in the magnetosphere. There is some interesting data that only recently became measurable regarding changes in the magnetosphere and it suggests that solar event can cause some significant distortions that take a while to "heal". This has probably been happening for ever, but we just couldn't see it. What the implications are is somewhat unclear. We do know that we've been around for awhile and we're not dead yet, so under "normal" conditions, it's probably not a huge concern. However, from the standpoint of astrological time, we have only a very, very brief history. So "normal" is really somewhat relative.

Under most "normal" cycles that we know of, it seems pretty impractical to issue public warnings. There's little evidence to suggest that things get especially dangerous at ground level. That's not to say that we really have a huge database to judge by. Who knows, it's plausible that a super high level anomaly could happen that exceeds the "normal". We know there are several different sun cycles that happen concurrently and there seems to be some evidence that extra high level events happen about every 300 years or so. The last being about 150 years ago known as the Carrington event. We really don't have any quantitative measurement of how strong it really was but aurora and visual sunspot evidence says it was "pretty big". In those days there was really no electrical/electronic infrastructure to speak of, other than telegraph, and we know that was significantly impacted. But people weren't dropping dead in the streets or getting fried either.

Even if we knew that we were going to see a heavy level of bombardment of energetic particles at ground level, it's debatable as to whether or not the average person could do a whole lot about it. Just staying indoors probably really doesn't provide you with all that much protection. If it was enough to kill you outdoors, it would be tough to hide from.

maybe we could focus on something that really matters. like our lives. seriously if were all gonna die well were all gonna die.

A kid,

The reasons we study these things is not about predicting when we're going to die. That's for movie scripts. These things do matter. It is advancement in knowledge about the world around us that got us out of caves and took us to using smart phones. Although sometimes I question how big a step forward that was, I realize that advancement of the human race is dependent on knowledge. The vast amounts of energy arriving from the sun is about 6,000 times more than we use burning fossil fuels. That means that in about an hour and a half, we get as much energy from the sun as we use burning ancient dead plants and animal for a year. Fossil fuels are a limited resource and we spend enormous sums of money and effort to use them. The more we understand about solar energy, the better our chances of finding efficient ways to capture and use it. Replacing fossil fuel use with solar energy would be world changing. It does matter.

It is sometimes difficult to decide what the important things are. But we spend time and effort on many things, and what is most important to any of us at any given point in time, varies widely. Not everything provides an immediate return on your efforts, but often the things that take a long time and require a lot of effort, are the things that generate enormous return. In the larger scheme of things, the amount of money and effort we put toward these kinds of thing like solar energy, are minuscule. Some of us would argue that because of the potential involved, we don't spend anywhere near enough attention on these things.

If you are a kid, all this probably seems like a waste of time, but learning to see the bigger picture is an important part of growing up. Being able to see things that aren't obvious and envisioning possibilities, are the skills that got us out of caves. Something drew you to the article and that's a first step. As a kid, the future will soon be in your hands. Do your best to be ready for it. Although no one knows for sure, chances are we aren't all "gonna die" anytime too soon, so assume a future and work toward making it better. Who knows, you could be the one to make that world changing discovery. Good luck!

A point of contention, the magnetosphere has no impact on x-rays, gamma rays, or neutron radiation. It only affects charged particles.

Mitchell

Sounds as if the author really really knows his stuff. Maybe Carrington event was just a fantasy and no telegraph lines worldwide actually burned and NASA's prediction for another Carrington event for 2012 is just hot air, because this author really really knows what's going on.

Mitchell,

I'm not sure that you were referring to A Smith's comment or mine. I didn't say it did, nor did I intend to imply that the magnetosphere protected us from these wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. It is the layers of the atmosphere that provide the protection from those wavelengths. As I suspect you're well aware the electromagnetic spectrum covers a wide range and the differing properties of each wavelength group determines how it is best suppressed. I didn't really want to get into a discussion of the various photons emitted during solar events because as you probably know, it gets considerably more complex when we talk about how we are protected from these. Also, the energy levels are not quite the same concern. Not that ionizing radiation isn't dangerous, but the photons have no mass. Smith was focused on the magnetic fields so I concentrated on that topic.

Unfortunately, sometimes simplified explanations of how all this works, don't really do justice to everything that is happening. I tried to differentiate by pointing out that the photons got here at lightspeed while the particles are slower and thus we can have some warning by seeing higher levels of ionizing radiation prior to the particles arrival.

I have mixed thoughts about criticizing someone elses comments when they may have shreds of truth in them, but also misinformation. Unfortunately, a lot of people capitalize on misinformation with everything from conspiracy theories, to tinfoil hatsand other gizmos for sale to protect yourself from impending doom. You might be surprised at how many people are making money off of junk science. Create a fear and you create a potential customer.

I find it encouraging when people take an interest in science, because that's really becoming rare these days, so I hate to get too critical and discourage that interest. If discussion causes someone to do further research, all the better.

I was referring to A Smith's post. He implied that the magnetic field provides protection from x-rays, gamma rays, and neutron radiation in his first paragraph, which is incorrect.

Mitchell

There is even an area in the South Atlantic that has shown much greater weakening than the rest of the planet.

And all the fish there are extra crispy.

A bunch of crap, as more plates shift and recharge these magnetic forces and ocean streams stall

the ice age begins then recedes OH WAIT! THATS CALLED EARTHS NATURAL COURSE

Without a doubt, the earth's magnetic field changes over time. It's not all that unusual for airports to actually need to change runway numbers because magnetic North has shifted enough. But the earth's magnetic field and the magnetosphere are not the same thing. They are directly related but don't confuse the two. Look it up and read carefully.

The issue of a 10% weakening over 150 years doesn't really mean that much and there is geological evidence that says that in fact the field strength today is double what the "normal" average is. Can it strengthen and weaken locally? Absolutely. So explain to me how they measured the total collective global field strength 150 years ago? The fact is, they really couldn't. Can the earth's magnetic field flip? Absolutely and we are certain that it does because of geological evidence. Will the measured field in different locations begin to see major variations before that happens? Very probable.

But you need to re-read the links again. The field will not really go away, but it becomes very scrambled before eventually flipping or re-aligning. would it go away from the standpoint of "how we know it today?" Sure, in that regard, what we know won't exist for quite a long period of time, but it's not gone. The physics of the earth's dynamo could not change rapidly enough to quickly eliminate the field. That reversal may take thousands of years to complete. During that period, a compass may not be useful anymore as being a reliable measure of direction, but it will still function. Thermodynamics and inertial forces are huge and change very slowly over very long periods of time. These would have to completely shut down to eliminate the field. The vast molten volumes can't cool instantly nor will the earth stop rotating quickly either without some huge collision event introducing enormous reverse inertial energy.

One thing you need to realize is that a lot of these theories being proposed about the earth's dynamo and it's resultant magnetic field, are based on models. One problem is that this stuff is extremely difficult to measure. This is one area of geophysics that is rapidly evolving and differing models exist. These keep getting refined all the time. One thing they are fairly certain of is that the dynamo process is pretty chaotic. We have geological evidence that most of these guys agree with as being a fairly good history of what happened in geological time. Sometimes these guys try to attract attention to their proposed studies, partly to help fund the research. Often someone might make what seems like a bold statement when the aspect they want to look deeper into, may be a relatively obscure and small piece. That's only to say, just take some of it with a grain of salt. When a couple dozen of the top scientists start agreeing, then maybe you're on to something.

It's really hard to say just what is normal and what is a significant deviation from normal, because the data we have is actaully just a very brief snapshot of time. The basic concept of how the magnetic field works has been around for awhile, but it's really only very recently that they have been able to create a lab experiment to "prove" the theoretical concept is possible. The nuances of the concept are only now being explored.

Yeah right, who would think National Geographic and the folks at John Hopkins University would be TRUTHFUL!

Are you a birther, or some lame Global Warming denier?

Didn't you get the Memo?

well duuudes apparently we ain't gonna hear about it from "the man" :First Nasa Wise is shut down…just when we need warnings of comets and brown dwarfs…Then…the National Weather Service will be shut down for about a month….just when we need weather warnings… Now NOAA is shut down…when we need solar weather warnings…Looks like ACE went dead at 2011-02-19 22:55UTC. SOHO C2 and C3 are offline at 0048 UTC. Little strange?! ...and they call thia a news nutwerk lol

I remember reading that comic book, it was plenty interesting fiction. Counter Earth and the High Evolutionary, Adam Warlock was the main character. Hasn't America, Europe and even Japan launched Solar probes? Seems that one or more of those probes circle around the Sun and would see if any planets were synced with the Earth's orbit on the other side of the Sun.

Anyway, I do recommend those old comic books which starred Adam Warlock and spun around the High Evolutionary creation of 'Counter Earth'.

I was rather confused at first. What I first read made me think that somebody didn't realized that the Earth had an Elliptical Orbit around the Sun and we did in fact get to see what was on the other side. Then I realized (Correct me if I'm wrong) that what was said is that the Sun itself was blocking what may have a similar Orbit around the Sun that we couldn't see. Kind of like that movie where the Astronaut travels around the Sun to find another Earth populated by Left handed Fascists.

This is really weird logic! Come on! You're in my prayers.

God will tarry until the last group of people have read His Word in their heart language.

Then He calls His own out of the world and the rest that are left get to avoid antichrist, follow antichrist or turn to Jesus and be saved.

I've seen most of the movies by Cecil B. Demil and if God was at work in this to destroy the World, I'm sure it would be more "Biblical" in scale. I think all of what's going on in the World and with the Sun is because God ISN'T involved in it. Because if he was, we wouldn't be concerned about it. Let's face it, for as far as we've walked away from God, why wouldn't he just put the Earth into Auto Pilot?

Where is God?

God! A red nugget! A fat egg under a dog!

simple when u know where to look ;-)

You actually think painting 1 million large business buildings that now have black tar roofs, WHITE wouldn't help change the global heating being observed? Huh?

The asphalt roofs and asphalt roads raise the ambvient tempertures of metro-cities by many degree's, known, observable.

As the polar ice fields decrease then less solar radiation is being reflected back into space. This could be mitigated with a corresponding large number of large business tar roof's being painted WHITE.

That is likely NOT going to simply stop desertification across China and many other regions on Earth but it is a doable step. One Step of many that is needed and is entirely being ignored and overlooked by the Republican leadership who in league with the Money Changers in Israel would be charging on the Titanic deck to listen to the music AS THE SHIP WENT DOWN BENEATH THE WAVES.

Humanity hasn't been ruling the planet for much of it's lifespan, worst yet is rather relative to the small slice of time when humanity of earth emerged as the dominate species. Many however do feel the upcoming Solar Max period is going to be large AND humanity's technological exposure outside of the earth's mostly protective magneticsphere and atmosphere which largely shields humanity from our own local Star's X-rays, Gamma and Neutron radiation is greatly diminished.

Hence humanity thru it's objects in space is far more vulnerable. Humanity on earth thru it's large dependance on technology is also largely vulnerable AND the earth's magnetic sphere has decreased in it's strength over the years some 10 percent.

A curious correlation between Solar Max and serious problems on earth such as Wars and global discourse was cited by two different independant but highly acclaimed psychics (Edgar Cayce, Franz Bardon) whom derived some kind of connection with the Solar Max period leading to periods of global discord and wars. The previous Solar Max period in that way of thinking appears to have set up two wars (Afghanistan, Iraq) and those wars are just now beginning to wind down.

With Israel pushing President Obama and Vice President Biden 24/7 to attack Iran, the next Solar Max period could see a global war which has not been seen since WW2 and the very real possibility of a ICBM nuclear exchange between Russia, China vs America over their strategic ally Iran. It is difficult to imagine anything worse than what the Zionists running Israels government are planning to befall on America and the American people, only time will tell if they succeed with that evil or not.

Point is, There ISN'T. People who say there is are just trying to bring a dead theory back to life when it has been proved over and over again that the scientist that were calling it 'Global Warming' were making up data to justify theit grants. Why do you think they call it 'climate change' now?

Yet the ice caps and glaciers keep melting at faster and faster rates. Its okay, deny global warming is happening in 20-30 years we will know for sure who is right but by then it will be too late and cost everyone on the planet Trillions and trillions.

It's weakening. Another 1,500 to 2000 years and we will be toast!

Actually, the Earths Magnetic North is moving 40 miles a year towards Russia and there is growing evidence the Magnetic field is weakening giving rise to the possibility of a complete pole reversal. Sorry, I haven't seen enough "End of Earthers" and felt the need to get the ball rolling.

I think alot of people are over reacting and listening to Al (I lied) Gore.

@!$%# the Al Gore reference. I think folks that keep the fear factor going while bringing up gore while ignoring the peril to Earth from our own actions here in the US and worldwide are a much bigger threat than the ME revolutions. Do you stay awake wondering if suddenly they are going to build an Ark, sneak over in the middle of the night and attack us? Or that they are going to Nuke us from Pakistan or Iran?? We that believe in the Lord do not fear death, from above or internally. We that don't believe shouldn't either. Sheeeeeple.

Serve your family some nice Gulf shrimp, why don't ya.

Praise the Lord and put down the rhetoric.

Resistance is futile.

LOL Gotta love it

Straight up dry, my friend!

Cheers!!

The generalized reason behind posting is mainly to pick on people who have no name. Unfortunately, I usually seize upon the opportunity to display a bit of sick humor. like MORE BE-HEADINGS IN MEXICO!!