(Pollutiononline) NASA’s
dramatic video of a black-topped sun on the verge of flipping its magnetic
polarity has captivated people. Friends of Science say the current low solar
sunspot activity, not seen in 200 years, is a pattern that historically preceded
global cooling and that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not
carbon dioxide.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
(PRWEB) - Climate change on earth is significantly affected by the changing 11
year solar magnetic cycles, according to Friends of Science and many solar and
climate researchers. A recently released NASA video, complete with animation
explaining the process wherein the sun’s magnetic poles flip polarity, lends
credence to the scientific position Friends of Science takes on climate change
and global warming.
“We are pleased that the
NASA video and animation describing these events in part explains how climate
is affected by the solar magnetic flux,”
says Dr. Neil Hutton, director of
Friends of Science. The video also notes there
are space and earth climate variations as earth passes through the ‘waves’ of
magnetic energy radiating from the sun.
Dr. Hutton is a long-time
proponent of the view that solar magnetic flux is the principle driver of
climate change. His work has been cited by the late Dr. Peter Ziegler, Emeritus
Professor, University of Basel, in December 2010 in a presentation to the Swiss
Academy of Sciences.
“For the first time in
history, people are able to observe close-up the changes the sun goes through
as its magnetic poles flip,” says Hutton. He points out that sun spot activity
has been documented as early as 300 BC, but most notably by Galileo in the
1600’s, and the activity has been systematically recorded since 1700.
Hutton notes that this
particular “Cycle 24” of the sun is quite unusual due to the very low number of
sunspots.
“The current sun spot
behavior has not been observed in 200 years,” says Hutton.
Colder periods like the
Little Ice Age were preceded by low sunspot activity. During the Little Ice Age
from about 1350 to 1850, cooler temperatures and wet seasons across Europe lead
to massive crop failures, famines and civil unrest. Hutton states:
“The Sun's
magnetic index is measured daily and has significantly declined since the last
maximum of Cycle 23. The geomagnetic activity of earth and that of the sun are
interrelated and their interplay also affects climate. Theoretically, a weaker
solar magnetic field could allow the penetration of more cosmic rays which
directly affect cloud cover and climate. This has been demonstrated by the
recently completed CLOUD experiment at CERN, the European Organization for
Nuclear Research.”
Friends of Science express
concern that global governments are not prepared for the possible consequences
of multi-decade global cooling.
“Even a one degree drop in
temperature could devastate agricultural production,” says Hutton. “Are we
prepared?”
Colder weather would reduce
northern hemisphere crop growth, increase demand for reliable, dispatchable
energy, and increase the number of health issues and deaths.
“Instead of spending a
trillion dollars world-wide on carbon reduction policies and unreliable wind
and solar, as we have done in the past decade, we need to upgrade and maintain
inexpensive fossil-fuel based energy for northern, industrialized countries,”
says Hutton.
