Topic: Magnetic-Shield Cracks Found; Big Solar Storms Expected

[sam]

An unexpected, thick layer of solar particles inside Earth's magnetic field suggests there are huge breaches in our planet's solar defenses, scientists said.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081217-solar-breaches.html?source=rss

[Simon]

Jeez!  Haven't we got enough to worry about?  We're all doomed!! 

[Rik]

I'm off to the bunker...

[Sandra]

I just wish this global warming would start soon, then we could start having some decent summers for once 

[Rik]

We had two, I remember them well, 1975 and 1976.

[sam]

We had two, I remember them well, 1975 and 1976.

can't comment... before my time.

[Simon]

[Sandra]

We had two, I remember them well, 1975 and 1976.

We didnt have "global warming" back then Rik, or at least they werent taxing us on it, it was just the usual variations in temperature that always has gone on and always will do, regardless of what we do 

[GillE]

In 1973 and 1974 weren't the scientists predicting a new ice age?  Then we had a couple of record breaking summers and the scientists decided global warming was the name of the new game.

Perhaps we should all dress in bubble-wrap to protect ourselves against whatever climactic variations might visit us.  If it gets cold, bubble-wrap will keep us warm; if it gets hot, bubble-wrap will keep us cool: and if scientists reach for their crystal balls again, we can smother them with the damn stuff.

[Reno]

They say solar flares and volcanoes can cause changes in climate. I'm waiting for one of those huge global volcanoes to spew out a few million tons of carbon dioxide and dust into the atmosphere. I've heard that the last one left the earth in a mini ice age.

[GillE]

According to independent researchers in Hawaii, Bob, volcanic eruptions make no significant impact on the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere.

[Reno]

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vclimate.html

First one listed on google after searching "volcanoes climate change."

Edit: european example

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-do-volcanoes-affect-w

[GillE]

Citing your own source, Bob:

There is no doubt that volcanic eruptions add CO2 to the atmosphere, but compared to the quantity produced by human activities, their impact is virtually trivial: volcanic eruptions produce about 110 million tons of CO2 each year, whereas human activities contribute almost 10,000 times that quantity.

The source for my assertion was http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/2007/07_02_15.html .  It strikes me that if there was to be a volcanic eruption which produced enough CO₂ to affect the level of greenhouse gases, we'd have more to worry about than an ice age!  The force of the earthquake itself would be devastating.

[Reno]

It happens every few hundred years. There is one that blows and lowers the overall global temperature a few degrees. Since global warming has supposedly only raised global temp about that much it would just cancel it out.

[Simon]

Great!  So we have nothing to worry about then!