1. Solar radiation responsible for warming?
A new study from the procedures of the "Proceedings of the Royal Society" title: "Experimental Evidence for the role of Ions in Particle Nucleation under Atmospheric Conditions" demonstrates a specific effect of solar radiation on global temperatures. The effect is being called the "Svensmark effect" named for the paper's lead authors. Steve Milloy at JunkScience.com provides this succinct summary as part of a more technical review of the paper:
the more active sun warms the planet directly with increased incident radiation and indirectly both by reducing low cloud and likely by elevating the proportion of gaseous water -- the most important greenhouse gas ... This is precisely the kind of feedback hypothesized for enhanced greenhouse except this now has a demonstrated physical mechanism and is of such importance we should walk through its function just to be clear. Increased solar activity acts directly on the Earth with a small increase in radiation, a small heating effect and an associated increase in evaporation. This same increase in activity suppresses cosmic ray penetration of Earth's atmosphere, thus reducing available low cloud condensation nuclei. This sequence of events increases clear sky and incoming radiation while increasing the already dominant clear sky greenhouse effect from gaseous water vapor. The reverse effect of a more quiescent sun reduces direct solar warming and, by permitting the penetration of cosmic rays, facilitates low cloud formation, which increases reflection of already reduced solar radiation, reduces clear sky, reduces evaporation and simultaneously reduces the availability of the most important greenhouse gas, water vapor, through condensation and precipitation. Thus solar activity has associated positive feedback when more active and negative feedback when less active, dramatically magnifying Earth's thermal response to changes in solar activity and explaining how fractions of Wm-2 change in direct solar radiation translate to many Wm-2 effect between positive and negative phases of relative solar activity ... Additionally, the mechanism described by Svensmark et al explains observed drought response to the recently more active sun and the reduction in cloudiness, probably coupled with snowfield discoloration from dust, soot and other particulates goes a long way toward explaining a disproportionate Arctic response, one apparently lacking in the Antarctic where such pigments are in relatively short supply, leaving snowfield albedo relatively unchanged.
Stay tuned. My guess is that there will be much more to come on this research.
2. Ozone Report Each week during the summer ozone season this newsletter will report how many, if any, high-ozone days had been experienced throughout the state during the previous week, where they were experienced, and how many have been recorded during the entire season to date. The ozone season began on April 1 and ends October 31. All reported data are from the North Carolina Division of Air Quality, which is part of the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources. During the period from May 30 through June 5, there were 27 reported high-ozone readings, which occurred on 18 different monitors over a 4-day period. No monitor registered more than 3 high-ozone readings over the period. The areas most impacted were Charlotte, the Triad, and Cumberland County. The city of Raleigh continues to have a high-ozone-free summer.
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