Dimming of the Sun
Dimming of the Sun
Nova on PBS recently aired a show titled, "Dimming the Sun."
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/dimming.html
The show examined what is happening in global warming. It started with a scientist who as a young man was charged with designing the irrigation systems for farm in Israel in 1953. As part of his research he measured the amount of sun light hitting the Earths surface. During the mid 1980's he repeated his work and discovered that the amount of sun light hitting the Earth had decreased by 25%. His work was independently verified by a scientist in Germany. Between these two scientists they were able to determine that the amount of sun hitting the Earths surface has decreased between 10% and 33%. The effects of the dimming have masked the effects of warming.
After 9/11 a climatologist had an opportunity to examine the effects of contrails on temperature. With no plane flying for three days they were able to measure a distinct increase in the temperatures. It was found that contrails can cover up to 50% of the sky reflecting a significant portion of the suns energy back to space. When that cover is gone the temperature increases significantly.
Scientist discovered that their models did not correctly handle evaporation. In the studies done by the Israeli scientist he discovered that as temperature increased, evaporation decreased. Further research into this phenomenon lead to the discovery that evaporation is dependant on the amount of photons that strike the water. Less light, less evaporation.
The conclusion of the show raised the possibility that global warming models have greatly underestimated the effect global warming. The models do not account for the amount of sun being reflected. More sun is being reflected back to space because the high particulate counts in the atmosphere make the clouds more reflective.
The Earth has gone through periods of warming and cooling its history. The warming periods were generally caused by large releases of carbon dioxide from massive fires, volcanic eruptions or discharges from undersea pockets. Man is releasing huge amounts of stored carbon dioxide in the form of the tons of coal burned every day for power, in the millions of gallons of crude oil converted to fuel and the burning of large swaths of forest land. The coal, oil and wood are nature’s way of storing carbon dioxide. The volcanoes are still erupting and man is adding it to by our consumption of the fossil fuels.
There is some anecdotal evidence as well. This marks the ninth year that Arapahoe Basin will not be able to remain until July because the snow has melted to fast. Ski season does not now starts in earnest until January compared with November when I was a kid. Last year was a record season for the number and the size of the storms during hurricane season. Remember that temperature is a measure of energy. One degree does not sound like much but… If you don’t think 1 degree makes a difference set your freezer at 33°. The difference between 75° and 76° is not much but spread over the thousands of square miles in which hurricanes form, that is a lot of extra energy.
To say that man has no effect on his environment seems to be short-sighted at best and dangerous at worst. De we not, as Christians, have a responsibility to God to care for the gift of the Earth that He gave us and the responsibility to our children and grandchildren to leave them an Earth that they can live on?
