The Day The Sun Caught Fire
By Ed Harris
Comment From Rock Of Offence:
I wonder why we don't hear about this repeatedly on the evening news. Could it be that the proponents of global warming are afraid the public might think the warming trend over the last several years is caused by something other than humans?
Did you know...the United States is being blamed by international environmentalists for global-warming because of our refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty? The treaty would have given away vast amounts of our national sovereignty to hostile foreign governments. Is there another agenda operating behind the global-warming scare?
This spectacular eruption of superheated gases, shooting a flame hundreds of thousands
of miles long into space from the sun, was captured on film by an orbiting satellite.
Overheating: the solar flare erupts blasting particles into space
The solar eruption, which is more than 240,000 miles long, burst from the surface of
the sun yesterday as the satellite had its cameras trained on our nearest star.
The explosion is what astronomers call an eruptive prominence, a loop of magnetic
fields that trap hot gas inside. As the trapped gas becomes unstable it erupts
violently into space.
If eruptions like these are aimed at Earth, they can disturb the magnetosphere, the
planet's magnetic field, with dramatic consequences.
Past eruptions have knocked out satellites, wrecked television reception and caused
power surges and blackouts, but this one was fortunately not aimed at us.
Scientists say the sun is experiencing a solar max, a period of strong activity that
happens about every 11 years and lasts for about three or four years.
The eruption is mostly burning hydrogen gas and solar particles which have been flung
into space at around 100,000F, eight times the temperature at the core of the Earth,
which is up to 13,000F - and hot enough to vapourise our planet should the Earth cross
its path.
So much superheated hydrogen was involved in the eruption that although the gas is one
of the lightest substances in the universe, it would have had a greater mass and
weighed more than Mount Everest, our tallest peak.
The Soho satellite - short for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory - is a joint Nasa and
European Space Agency project, orbiting the Sun a million miles from Earth. Its mission
is to observe "space weather".
Todd Hoeksema, solar astronomer at Nasa, said: "This was quite a large eruption and
they are pretty spectacular.
"The material goes out into space, and if it is heading towards Earth it will hit our
atmosphere and disturb the magnetic field.
"It can damage satellites and sometimes means planes flying over the poles have to be
re-routed, because it interferes with communications equipment."
Associated Newspapers Ltd., 02 July 2002
This Article Is From...This Is London
Global Warming Confirms Life On Mars
Wildcat Student Newspaper Commentary
Illustration by Cody Angell
By Shane Dale
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Monday August 5, 2002
Did you hear? Scientists have found conclusive
evidence of life on Mars. For some reason, it
hasn’t been widely reported in the media, so you
likely have yet to hear about it. If you haven’t,
let me be the first to share the news with you:
From ABCNews.com: "High-resolution images snapped
by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor show that levels of
frozen water and carbon dioxide at the Red
Planet’s poles have dwindled dramatically — by
more than 10 feet — over a single Martian year
(equivalent to 687 days or about two Earth
years)." To put it into simpler terms, the article
says, "It might seem like the weather’s getting
warmer here on Earth, but Mars appears to have an
even bigger global warming problem."
There you go. Irrefutable proof that Mars is full
of living beings. Not only that; this is clear
evidence that Martian society is, at the very
least, as technologically advanced as ours.
Let me clarify: Environmentalists claim that our
own global warming is being caused by fossil fuel
emissions by automobiles and industries. Now if
that’s true — which it is, of course, because
environmentalists have no reason to make stuff up
— Martians have begun to alter their own planet’s
temperature through similar means, and to an even
greater extreme than what we’ve done to our
planet.
I suppose this extraordinary discovery is
bittersweet. On one hand, we now know that we’re
not alone in the universe. On the other, we know
that our neighbors might not be around much longer
if they continue with the lifestyle they’ve
chosen.
So what can we do about the Martians’ global
warming problem? They’re obviously unaware of the
unalterable damage they’re causing to their
planet’s environment. They’re oblivious to the
needs of cutting fossil fuel emissions from their
greedy corporate industries and gas-guzzling SUVs.
Otherwise, they certainly would have done
something about it by now, just as we have.
Frankly, folks, I don’t see that we have a choice
in the matter. We have to warn them, and we have
to warn them now.
Don’t worry. I have a plan. We need to round up
all of Earth’s environmentalists — hey, there must
be a lot of Martians over there to do this much
damage to their planet in such a short period of
time, so getting the message out will require a
great deal of manpower — and send them on a mass
mission to Mars. Greenpeace, the Sierra Club,
Earth First! and all other pro-nature,
anti-industrial, socially-conscious individuals —
Western Europe, I’m looking in your direction —
let’s get them over there as soon as possible to
spread the word.
I realize NASA was planning on waiting another
20-30 years before undertaking a manned expedition
to Mars, but frankly, we don’t have that long.
We’ll just have to do with the technology we have.
Let’s get some shuttles up and running right away.
No time to figure out how to get everyone back
right now; we’ll worry about the small details
later.
The message we need to send to Mars is clear: You
only have one planet. And no, you can’t come here,
because we’re already overpopulated and our planet
can only withstand so much — the environmentalists
wouldn’t lie about that either. You need to
realize that money and greed lead to the
destruction of nature. You need to see that living
a simpler, less capitalist-driven life is the only
way for your planet to survive. And if you’re not
open to these ideas, then we hope you like it nice
and hot, because that’s what you’ll have coming
and that’s what you’ll deserve.
Okay, maybe we shouldn’t give up on them that
easily. Maybe we should enact a similar, Kyoto
Protocol-like treaty into the Martian culture. It
may be necessary to restrict their fossil fuel
emissions by force. While hurting their economy
may do more harm than good short term-wise, in the
long run, they’ll thank us for leading them to a
more caring, interdependent way of life.
And best of all, they’ll be alive to send us that
thanks.
Look, I know we have a long way to go on our own
planet. Until we get rid of all low gas mileage
cars and filth-spewing factories, we’re not out of
danger. But Mars has it even worse than us.
Thinking outside our own borders is always
essential. Right now, it’s time to think outside
our own atmosphere.
Mars Could Be Undergoing Major Global Warming
This Article Is From The New Scientist
10:05 07 December 01
Mars is undergoing global warming that could
profoundly change the planet's climate in a few
thousand years, new data suggests.
High-resolution images taken by NASA's Mars Global
Surveyor show that the permanent south polar "ice"
cap shrank significantly between two successive
Martian summers - a period roughly corresponding
to two Earth years. If the trend continues at the
same rate and the polar cap is entirely frozen
carbon dioxide, "the whole cap would be evaporated
in a few thousand years," Mike Caplinger of Malin
Space Science Systems told New Scientist.
This would release enough carbon dioxide to give
Mars an atmosphere one-tenth the density of the
Earth's. "That takes us from a situation of
working in a near vacuum with a space suit to
being able to run around on the surface with an
oxygen mask and a heavy coat. It's what the
terraforming people were always talking about,"
says Caplinger.
However, Caplinger warns it is hard to make
long-term predictions using observations over such
a short period.
David Smith of the NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center thinks the shrinkage may be part of a
multi-year climate cycle, like the terrestrial El
Nino/Southern Oscillation. Recent dust storms
might also have aided the melting of the cap.
Seasonal cycle
Planetary scientists have long recognized a
seasonal cycle of growth and shrinkage of the
frozen cap on Mars.
Separate new observations with the Mars Orbiter
Laser Altimeter show up to two meters of fresh CO2
ice freezes out of the atmosphere each winter onto
the polar caps, then evaporates in the spring and
summer.
The high-resolution photographs allowed scientists
to examine the permanent southern polar cap after
the seasonal ice had evaporated. They pictures
show a scattering of broad flat pits 30 to 100
meters wide with steep walls several meters high,
like holes in a slice of swiss cheese on a flat
surface.
The walls of many pits retreated one to three
meters during the Martian year, but Caplinger
could find no evidence the ice was being
redeposited elsewhere.
No fluffy snow
Both sets of observations confirm that the upper
layers of the ice caps are frozen carbon dioxide,
as had been expected. One surprise was that the
density of the seasonal "ice" - about 0.9 grams
per cubic centimetre - is much higher than the
density of snow on Earth, but not as high as that
of solid blocks of frozen carbon dioxide.
This indicates the carbon dioxide "ice" froze on
the surface, rather than falling as fluffy snow,
which would have been lighter due to spaces
between the crystals.
Planetary scientists hope the new data will help
them understand past Martian climate. It also
shows "there's really some interesting stuff yet
to be discovered" about Martian seasons and
climate, says David Paige of the University of
California at Los Angeles. Plans call for a
continuation of the high-resolution imaging for at
least another Martian year to see if the trends
continue.
Journal reference: Science (vol 294, p 2141, 2146)
Jeff Hecht, Boston
This story is from NewScientist.com's news service
- for more exclusive news and expert analysis
every week subscribe to New Scientist print
edition.
Evidence Points To Mars Warming
Article Is From The Associated Press
Scientists see signs of melting carbon dioxide ice
at the poles.
WASHINGTON - Vast fields of carbon dioxide ice are
eroding from the poles of Mars, suggesting that
the climate of the Red Planet is warming and the
atmosphere is becoming slightly more dense.
Experts say that over time such changes could
allow water to return to the Martian surface and
turn the frigid planet into a "shirt-sleeve
environment."
Michael A. Caplinger, a scientist with Malin Space
Science Systems, said if the rate of carbon
dioxide erosion from the Mars poles continues for
thousands of years, "then it could profoundly
amend the climate of Mars. You would go from
having to wear a spacesuit to just wearing a coat
and an oxygen atmosphere."
Caplinger is co-author of a study appearing in the
journal Science that analyzes photos of Mars taken
by an orbiting spacecraft. The photos were taken
in 1999 and in 2001, a period of time that
represents one Martian year. Mars is farther from
the sun than the Earth and it takes the Red Planet
about 23 months to complete one year, a single
solar orbit.
Observers have long known that in the Martian
winter there is a snow of carbon dioxide caused as
temperatures plunge and the gas freezes out of
Mars' thin atmosphere.
But the new study suggests a dense cap of frozen
carbon dioxide thought to be permanent at each of
the Mars poles may not be all that permanent, said
Caplinger.
Instead, said Caplinger, the glacierlike carbon
dioxide ice is eroding, rather like the way a
glacier melts on Earth.
The key clue, he said, comes from examining the
light patterns on pits at the Martian south pole.
Comparing pictures taken a Martian year apart show
the pits are getting wider and deeper as a result
of the retreat of the carbon dioxide ice,
Caplinger said.
As the C02 ice erodes, it adds carbon dioxide to
the Martian atmosphere, causing the "air" to get
thicker over time. This would enable the planet to
hold more of the sun's heat and, perhaps,
eventually warm the whole planet enough for water
to return to the Martian surface.
His co-author, Michael C. Malin, said in a
statement that if the atmosphere of Mars becomes
dense enough, it would "permit liquid water to
persist at or near the surface."
Other studies have shown Mars was once awash with
great basins of water, but the water is thought to
have disappeared or become subsurface ice as the
planet cooled and developed a thin C02 atmosphere.
Some experts suggested any speculation about a
Martian climate change is premature.
"This is a really neat observation," said Allan H.
Treiman of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in
Houston. But he said the pictures span a time too
short to make predictions about permanent changes
in the Mars climate.
"We don't have enough data on Mars to draw any
clear conclusions about climate change," he said.
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