Kate Ravilious
for National Geographic News
February 28, 2007
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human- induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.
Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: "Global Warming Fast Facts".)
Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.
In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.
"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.
Solar Cycles
Abdussamatov believes that changes in the sun's heat output can account for almost all the climate changes we see on both planets.
Mars and Earth, for instance, have experienced periodic ice ages throughout their histories.
"Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.
By studying fluctuations in the warmth of the sun, Abdussamatov believes he can see a pattern that fits with the ups and downs in climate we see on Earth and Mars.
Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists.
"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.
"And they contradict the extensive evidence presented in the most recent IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report." (Related: "Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say" [February 2, 2007].)
Amato Evan, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, added that "the idea just isn't supported by the theory or by the observations."
Planets' Wobbles
The conventional theory is that climate changes on Mars can be explained primarily by small alterations in the planet's orbit and tilt, not by changes in the sun.
"Wobbles in the orbit of Mars are the main cause of its climate change in the current era," Oxford's Wilson explained. (Related: "Don't Blame Sun for Global Warming, Study Says" [September 13, 2006].)
All planets experience a few wobbles as they make their journey around the sun. Earth's wobbles are known as Milankovitch cycles and occur on time scales of between 20,000 and 100,000 years.
These fluctuations change the tilt of Earth's axis and its distance from the sun and are thought to be responsible for the waxing and waning of ice ages on Earth.
Mars and Earth wobble in different ways, and most scientists think it is pure coincidence that both planets are between ice ages right now.
"Mars has no [large] moon, which makes its wobbles much larger, and hence the swings in climate are greater too," Wilson said.
No Greenhouse
Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in Abdussamatov's theory is his dismissal of the greenhouse effect, in which atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide help keep heat trapped near the planet's surface.
He claims that carbon dioxide has only a small influence on Earth's climate and virtually no influence on Mars.
But "without the greenhouse effect there would be very little, if any, life on Earth, since our planet would pretty much be a big ball of ice," said Evan, of the University of Wisconsin.
Most scientists now fear that the massive amount of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the air will lead to a catastrophic rise in Earth's temperatures, dramatically raising sea levels as glaciers melt and leading to extreme weather worldwide.
Abdussamatov remains contrarian, however, suggesting that the sun holds something quite different in store.
"The solar irradiance began to drop in the 1990s, and a minimum will be reached by approximately 2040," Abdussamatov said. "It will cause a steep cooling of the climate on Earth in 15 to 20 years."
Source
Sunday, March 4, 2007
George Soros Buys Halliburton Stock
In a delicious irony, Foreign Policy magazine editor Mike Boyer reports at the magazine's blog FP Passport that SEC documents reveal that George Soros bought 1.9 million shares of Halliburton stock in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Soros gave more than $20 million to "527" organizations in the 2004 election, many of which used anti-Halliburton bashing as a rallying cry for the anti-war Left.
Writes Boyer: (via Boozhy and Andrew Sullivan)
Normally, I'm willing to overlook the hypocrisy of the liberal elite. If Al Gore and his Hollywood cronies want to fly around on gas-guzzling, atmosphere-polluting private jets while railing against global climate change, I'm willing to overlook it.
But the latest move by globe trotting, hyper-liberal billionaire George Soros borders on being too much.... Soros, of course, is the dean of Democratic money giving. And Halliburton, of course, is the company that embodies everything the Democrats see as evil. Dick Cheney is its former chief, for goodness' sake.
How can you not laugh at this development? The possibilities for amusement are wonderful...
Update: George Soros' fund, Soros Fund Management LLC, owns the shares.
Source
Soros gave more than $20 million to "527" organizations in the 2004 election, many of which used anti-Halliburton bashing as a rallying cry for the anti-war Left.
Writes Boyer: (via Boozhy and Andrew Sullivan)
Normally, I'm willing to overlook the hypocrisy of the liberal elite. If Al Gore and his Hollywood cronies want to fly around on gas-guzzling, atmosphere-polluting private jets while railing against global climate change, I'm willing to overlook it.
But the latest move by globe trotting, hyper-liberal billionaire George Soros borders on being too much.... Soros, of course, is the dean of Democratic money giving. And Halliburton, of course, is the company that embodies everything the Democrats see as evil. Dick Cheney is its former chief, for goodness' sake.
How can you not laugh at this development? The possibilities for amusement are wonderful...
Update: George Soros' fund, Soros Fund Management LLC, owns the shares.
Source
Ahmadinejad is officialy a member of tin foil hat brigade
Ahmedinejad: Iran, Saudi Arabia to fight against “conspiracies”
(DPA)
4 March 2007
TEHERAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that his first state visit to Saudi Arabia has been fruitful and the two Islamic states agreed to jointly fight what he called ”conspiracies” against the Islamic world.
Talking to state-run Iranian TV on his return from Riyadh, he said the two states discussed the latest developments in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian areas and vowed to increase efforts for unity within the Islamic world and blocking discord among Islamic sects.
Ahmadinejad has several times accused the West, chiefly the United States, of seeking to sow discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims in order to strengthen its own status and that of Israel in the Middle East.
The Iranian president had visited Saudi Arabia on Saturday, holding his first meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh.
Afterwards, Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Saudi Arabia were obliged to help meet the needs of the Islamic world.
“Iran and Saudi Arabia are two great and powerful Islamic countries and accordingly have numerous mutual obligations and responsibilities in the Islamic world and Middle East,” he said in a statement on the website of the Iranian presidential office.
The Iranian website quoted Abdullah as saying that Saudi Arabia is the “second home country for Iranians.”
“Today, the Islamic world has many enemies who want to sow discord between the two countries, but our two nations are Muslims with a united belief and therefore enjoying good relations,” Abdullah said.
Ahmadinejad was received by the Saudi monarch and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, secretary general of the National Security Council, who is known to be close to the Bush administration in Washington.
Source
(DPA)
4 March 2007
TEHERAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that his first state visit to Saudi Arabia has been fruitful and the two Islamic states agreed to jointly fight what he called ”conspiracies” against the Islamic world.
Talking to state-run Iranian TV on his return from Riyadh, he said the two states discussed the latest developments in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian areas and vowed to increase efforts for unity within the Islamic world and blocking discord among Islamic sects.
Ahmadinejad has several times accused the West, chiefly the United States, of seeking to sow discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims in order to strengthen its own status and that of Israel in the Middle East.
The Iranian president had visited Saudi Arabia on Saturday, holding his first meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh.
Afterwards, Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Saudi Arabia were obliged to help meet the needs of the Islamic world.
“Iran and Saudi Arabia are two great and powerful Islamic countries and accordingly have numerous mutual obligations and responsibilities in the Islamic world and Middle East,” he said in a statement on the website of the Iranian presidential office.
The Iranian website quoted Abdullah as saying that Saudi Arabia is the “second home country for Iranians.”
“Today, the Islamic world has many enemies who want to sow discord between the two countries, but our two nations are Muslims with a united belief and therefore enjoying good relations,” Abdullah said.
Ahmadinejad was received by the Saudi monarch and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, secretary general of the National Security Council, who is known to be close to the Bush administration in Washington.
Source
Arab science LOL
Egyptian Cultural Advisor: "God Did Not Create Eve From Adam's Rib"
The cultural advisor of the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) Dr. Muhammad Abd Al-Ghani Shama, said: "God did not create Eve from Adam's rib". This came in reaction to the words of a lecturer of medicine from Al-Azhar University who claimed that men have one rib less than women since God created Eve out of Adam’s [removed] rib. According to Dr. Shama, this belief is not true since it is affected by Israeli sources, that Adam and Eve were created from the same material.
Source
The cultural advisor of the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) Dr. Muhammad Abd Al-Ghani Shama, said: "God did not create Eve from Adam's rib". This came in reaction to the words of a lecturer of medicine from Al-Azhar University who claimed that men have one rib less than women since God created Eve out of Adam’s [removed] rib. According to Dr. Shama, this belief is not true since it is affected by Israeli sources, that Adam and Eve were created from the same material.
Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)