Does anyone know if the sun causes global warming?

Question

Does anyone know if the sun causes global warming?

Answer 1

hi there,



I READ THIS ANSWER SOME TIME AGO AND HOPE THIS ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION:



The heat's in the sun

LAWRENCE SOLOMON, Financial Post

Published: Friday, March 09, 2007

We live in extraordinarily hot times, says Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany. In 2004, he led a team of scientists that, for the first time, quantitatively reconstructed the sun's activity since the last Ice Age, some 11,400 years ago. Earth hasn't been this hot in 8,000 years and, he predicts, the hot spell will carry on for a few more

decades before the sun turns down the heat.



The 19th and 20th centuries are especially noteworthy. "The sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago and this brightening started relatively recently -- in the last 100 to 150 years," he says. "The sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures."



Dr. Solanki gives cold comfort to those who claim that global warming took off with the Industrial Revolution, and that the warming we've seen over the last century is mostly man-made. To demonstrate how unlikely this is, Dr. Solanki shows an almost perfect correlation between solar cycles and air temperatures over the land masses in the Northern hemisphere, going back to the mid 19th century.



For example, when the length of solar cycle increased dramatically, as it did in from 1910 to 1940, so did the temperature on Earth; when it decreased, as it did from the 1940s to the 1960s, so too did Earth temperatures. Dr. Solanki's startling correlation marked a pivotal point in the climate change debate: Its publication, more than any other single event, caused researchers around the world to examine the role that the sun plays in heating and cooling our planet.



Not that Dr. Solanki discredits the role of man-made greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. These have probably played a large role in Earth's climate, he believes, but only since 1980 or so, when the sun's almost perfect correlation with Earth temperatures ended. He also believes that evidence that greenhouse gases have played a larger role in climate change may some day turn up, because his near-perfect correlation does not constitute proof. To date, however, he hasn't seen anything compelling that undermines his own findings.



The answer to most of the global warming we have seen over the past century, Dr. Solanki believes, will likely be somehow associated with the sun, and involve one or more of its parameters. It could be the sun's total irradiance, he states, citing work by others that he respects, or it could be the solar spectral irradiance, in particular with regard to ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere. Or it could be the sun's open magnetic flux, which modulates the galactic cosmic-ray flux. Or it could be other factors -- many potential solar drivers of our climate exist.



Dr. Solanki is especially taken with the work of the Danish National Space Agency, which demonstrated the dramatic effect that cosmic rays can have on cloud formation, and thus temperatures -- "the mechanism is just too beautiful to ignore," he offers.



Among the factors that he believes hold great promise, and that cry out for investigation, are the sun's irradiance and its magnetic field, which underlie all solar activity. "Unfortunately, regular and detailed measurements of the sun's surface magnetic field are only available for a few decades, not long enough for comparison with climate," he says on his Web site. "Records of the solar irradiance are available for an even shorter length of time" -- accurate measurements began in 1978 using instrumentation aboard spacecraft. With knowledge of these fundamental determinants of Earth's climate still in their infancy, we cannot act with confidence on climate change.





Dr. Solanki's recommendation: more research, and lots of it. To uncover a possible connection between solar irradiance and magnetic-field variations and climate, he thinks it necessary to extend the irradiance record to earlier times with the help of models. To understand the mechanisms responsible for variations in solar brightness, it is necessary to study solar variability on time scales of days to centuries.



Until the research is in, he believes, the story of what drives climate change remains unknown.



[e-mail]



- - -



- Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Urban Renaissance Institute and Consumer Policy Institute, divisions of Energy Probe Research Foundation.



CV OF A DENIER:



Sami Solanki is director and scientific member at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany. Previously, he was appointed professor of astronomy at the University of Oulu in Finland in 1998 and Minnaert Professor at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1999. Among his research interests are solar physics, the physics of cool stars, radiative transfer and astronomical tests of theories of gravity. Dr. Solanki obtained his doctorate from the ETH in Zurich in 1987. His Web site is www.mps.mpg.de/homes/solanki.

Answer 2

Well, in a way the sun causes global warming, so yes. Let me explain:



Without the Sun, there would be no source of heat to warm the planet.



The warmth of Earth depends on how much energy (heat) from the Sun is reemitted back into space or trapped. If less is remitted, then Earth would be warmer. This reflection and trapping of energy is caused by several factors, such as the earths albedo (ability to reflect light through things like ice), and greenhouse gasses (gasses in our atmosphere that absorb heat). If there is less albedo and more greenhouse gasses the Earth will warm.



Naturally the light or heat wants to makes its way out to space, but the greenhouse gasses trap it causing the planet to get a little warmer.



One important thing to remember:

-Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas (It makes up more than 96% of the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere).

-CO_2 is emitted by cars and that is a greenhouse gas, thus making the climate warmer.

-The more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere causes the Earth to get warmer.



Hope this helps!

Answer 3

99.9% of all life on this planet get their energy from the Sun - directly or indirectly. The Sun is also the main driver of all weather patterns on our planet.



The Global Warming phenomena and the action of the Sun on our planet's atmosphere are often confused by many people, as well as twisted by those who do not believe that man-made pollutants have any effects on the weather. Global warming is all about the effects man-made pollutants have on the mean temperature rise of the earth. There are a range of temperatures the earth has experienced through the interaction between the Sun, greenhouse gases, and gravitational effects of the planets, but one thing has remained an absolute fact: The effects of solar activity is exacerbated by the atmospheric content of the earth. So whereas in the past high levels of solar activity meant a modest change with mild consequences for weather patterns, a high concentration of greenhouse gases that trap heat will mean a dramatic change of temperature with grave consequences for weather patterns. It's very simple. We affect the weather and temperature of the earth with pollution and the Sun is the catalyst that may drive it to disastrous results.

Answer 4

the sun is the main part of global warming but we need it

Answer 5

yes it does buddy

but its getting worst because of UV rays and the atmosphere thinning

Answer 6

Wow, do you have a learning disability. Global Warming is a proven fact and we need to act. It is caused almost entirely by humans.I don't know who told you that Global Warming wasn't real, or that it is caused by the sun but they're lying. The only point that skeptics have is to cause confusion, in reality there is none. What are you going to do when the planet is unuhabitable, however that is hundreds of years away. But what are going to feel like when hundreds of millons of people are displaced by rising ocean leves as a result of the polar ice caps melting. Or how about when all of europe goes into an ice age because the north atlantic current is dissrupted by the melting of greenland. What are you ganna do? We as human beings living on earth need to stand up and take action. This is the only planet we have and we need to protect it.

Answer 7

the Sun is the Father of all and any warming going on as far as this planet is concerned .



our contribuion to Environmental destruction is undisputable ,but we can warm nothing ,the Sun has to do all that ,but we have made it easier by taking so many forrests away ,and by poluting the air



Compared to the forces of Nature ,even all of the colletive humanity is insignificant



Man is a microbe ,but a nasty one .

Answer 8

There are defiantly other planets with life on them. Life that might be compared with amoebas and fungus. What are the chances of a star providing just the right amount of heat and light to sustain life as we know it on this planet? I'm guessing less than 1 in 9999999999

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

I put about 2000 9's there, and that is probably and understatement. Life as we know it is limited. Our star will burn out, and man will be no more. Have a nice nite.

Answer 9

Increased solar radiation is about 10% of global warming. Most of the rest is us, increasing the heating effect of the sun with greenhouse gases:



http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png



EDIT:



Mc's arguments below are answered here:



http://gristmill.grist.org/skeptics



The "swindle" movie cited isn't controversial, it's flat wrong.



"A Channel 4 documentary claimed that climate change was a conspiratorial lie. But an analysis of the evidence it used shows the film was riddled with distortions and errors."



http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2355956.ece

Answer 10

The sun heats the earth... global warming!



Thank you, thank you very much!

Answer 11

the heat capacities of greenhouse gases at this time are more relevant to the variation in temperatures on the Earth than current variations of infrared energy being produced by the sun. I was just up in Abashiri, Hokkaido (N.Japan), and I saw the drift ice. It has receded significantly (10%) in the last decade. The drift ice there is the lowest parallel where is exists on the planet, as such the most significant effect can be seen and measured. Is it man, nature, a combination...many arguements abound, but it is not due to variations in the IR spectrum of the sun.

Answer 12

The heat generated by things on the planet and by the sun is kept on the planet by the atmosphere, this is why our planet has life, the atmosphere allows some of the heat out but not all of it so earth is not a block of ice. When we add gases to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels etc, we are effectively adding another blanket so to speak, to the atmosphere, and preventing the heat from escaping into space, so the earth warms up, the ice melts, the seas rise, the land floods etc etc.

Answer 13

We'll.. the sun is part of global warming. Humans are using to much factorys and stuff.. which creates CO2, and it destroys the ozone little by little. This causes global warming. It's sorta like the greenhouse effect or something.

Answer 14

this is a horrible qurstion i feel unfortunate that you even wrote something like this. in any case read up on global warming because it is the extreme shifts in weather patterns and temperatures throughout the world. if i see one more question by someone not knowing the topic of global warming and thinking that it is related to purely "warmth" i will definately feel doomed as a member of modern society. i dont understand how people can not read about a subject and then offer insight into that subject. please do not post questions unless they are logical and are actually asking a serious question. there are many websites that explain global warming and explain what you as a human can do to help cut pollution even if you dont believe in global warming. please read up on it.

Answer 15

The theory of man-made global warming is false. Anyone who believes otherwise has not investigated the evidence or is purposely remaining ignorant to the legitimate opposition to global warming. I have given up one and a half hours to watch “An Inconvenient Truth” so I ask you to do the same and watch the movie detailing the opposition.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4499562022478442170&q=great+global+warming+swindle.

The video is controversial, I know but I consider An Inconvenient Truth to be just as controversial and so do these sources:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=d0235a70-33f1-45b3-803b-829b1b3542ef&k=99551&p=1

http://www.cei.org/pdf/5539.pdf

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/environment/gore.html

And another video for those of you short on time: http://www.friendsofscience.org/index.php?ide=3

And another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr5O1HsTVgA

Some more general resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy

http://www.friendsofscience.org/index.php?ide=4

http://www.john-daly.com/

http://www.abd.org.uk/green_myths.htm

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/aginatur/prog1.htm#suspend

http://www.trac.org.au/cgi-bin/test?page=/myths/top10.htm

http://www.bkdesign.ca/blog/reports/global-warming-myth.php

http://www.fcpp.org/pdf/TimBallJan2607handouts.pdf

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/ScienceIsntSettled.pdf

http://meteo.lcd.lu/globalwarming/Carter/laying_ten_global_warming_myths.html

http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba230.html

This scientist says global warming will be a joke in 5 years:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaruherald/4064691a6571.html

Probably the best general resource:

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=56dd129d-e40a-4bad-abd9-68c808e8809e

note- it takes a while to load because it is so long



CO2 is not causing the globe to warm the opposite is true, the warming is increasing the atmospheric CO2. When the world heats it gradually increases the temperature of the oceans which serve as the largest CO2 sink. As the oceans heat up they release CO2 which is stored in them. The information comes from the same data Al Gore uses, the temperature always goes up before the concentration of CO2 goes up.

http://www.lavoisier.com.au/papers/articles/ninelieslaunch.pdf#search=%22vostok%20figure%20125%22

This is the entire record of temperature verses CO2 record. This is the same data used by Al Gore but anyone with a fifth grade education can see that temperature rises before CO2:

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/atmosphere/IceCores1.gif

The global warming crowd tends to hind this graph, they will only show graphs of the last 20 or so years in which CO2 appears to cause a temperature increase. However when you look at the full data set you see that the current warming trend is not the result of CO2, CO2 rises after temperature. The global warming crowd uses the zoomed in graph to mislead you also they tend to use thick lines on the graph so you can’t make out what rises first. As you can see the temperature rises first and then CO2 starts to skyrocket, that’s why graphs of only 20 years seem to show CO2 leading temperature.



CO2 makes up only .03% of our atmosphere. Water vapor, another greenhouse gas, makes up 1-4% of our atmosphere, this gas is acknowledged to be the main greenhouse gas. All human activities combined contribute only 6 Gigatons of CO2 to the atmosphere each year. Animals, through respiration, decomposition, etc contribute 150 Gigatons of CO2 to the atmosphere. So humans contribute only a small amount of CO2 to the atmosphere which is already in very small concentrations in the atmosphere.

http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/science.html This is where my data came from, it is an interesting site, it displays the same graphics as Al Gore in his movie but it tells how low the human contribution is. So Al Gore is using the same data but coming to a different conclusion, who do you want to believe a politician with no scientific training or the NASA CO2 laboratory, a group of scientists who spend their entire careers studying CO2.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/teia-csh051107.php

Also the belief that our current levels of CO2 is unusual are untrue:

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/global-warming051407.htm



We know the greenhouse effect is real it is a necessary effect to keep our planet at a habitable temperature. However if our current warming is due to greenhouse gasses it would cause warming in the troposphere , but the troposphere is actually getting cooler.

http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/temperature/. That points to other explanations to our current warming.



So what is causing our current warming, it is the sun.

http://web.dmi.dk/solar-terrestrial/space_weather/

http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2003/split/642-2.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060926_solar_activity.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040803093903.htm

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/17jan_solcon.htm

http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=900

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Reference_Docs/The_Geologic_Record_and_Climate_Change.pdf



The fact that only the earth’s surface is warming points to direct heating from the sun rather than heating due to greenhouse gasses. Also other planets in our solar system are warming pointing to a common cause of warming, that common cause being the sun.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/070312_solarsys_warming.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mgs-092005.html

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mgs-092005-images.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_ice-age_031208.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1660

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17977

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/global-warming030207.htm

Another theory is that ocean currents play a role

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2000-03/UoCS-Nrol-1903100.php



The global warming crowd says our glaciers are melting and animals will suffer this is another false claim.

http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/articles/V8/N46/EDIT.jsp

http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA235.html

http://www.worldclimatereport.com/

http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=192

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2005/03/growing_glacier.html

http://juneaualaska.com/visit/stories/herbertglacier.shtml

They claim that recent years are have been the hottest on record, not true:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-329es.html





The global warming crowd also insists our seas are rising due to global warming, however this is not entirely correct. Seas in certain areas are rising, there is no global sea rise. The seas have been rising ever since the last ice age: http://globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Holocene_Sea_Level_png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Post-Glacial_Sea_Level.png

These two sources show that sea level increase now has actually leveled off from a very steep rise for the past 20 thousand years. For proof of this look here:

http://www.climateark.org/articles/1999/markhotd.htm

A mark left by Sir James Clark Ross, an Antarctic explorer, in 1841 is still visible. Not only that but the mark was placed in 1841 to show how high the sea was, not only is the mark visible it is 30cm above current sea levels. Now it is possible that the mark was placed at high tide and the picture taken at low, but even then the mark would still be above current sea levels. The seas have risen dramatically over the past thousand years not due in any part to us. If you want proof of that take a look at one of the dozens of ancient underwater cities that spot the globe. When these cities were built they were on land now they are deep underwater: http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2004/s1107203.htm

This shows a dramatic increase in sea level during human time but long before the world became industrialized.



The global warming crowd also claims a scientific consensus on the issue, this is wrong in two ways. One, there is no consensus, this is a false claim to make you believe in global warming by suppressing the opposition. http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm

Also stating new research many prominent scientists have reversed their opinions on the legitimacy of man-made global warming.

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=c5e16731-3c64-481c-9a36-d702baea2a42

Second, even if there was a consensus it would mean nothing, science is not politics, you don’t vote on theories to determine their legitimacy.

Here’s 21 pages of websites that disagree with global warming.

http://www.climatechangedebate.org/documents/CCD_read.pdf

The thought that the only scientists who disagree with global warming are paid by oil companies is simply a stupid statement with no reality. This is the most illogical argument by people in support of global warming. Aside from being completely false it begs another question: Who pays global warming supporters? The answer is big environmental agencies that make millions off of global warming each year by teaching, publishing books, and selling environmentally clean products.

http://w3g.gkss.de/G/Mitarbeiter/bray.html/BrayGKSSsite/BrayGKSS/WedPDFs/Science2.pdf

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=63ab844f-8c55-4059-9ad8-89de085af353&k=0

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=B82EAA82-802A-23AD-49E8-30B49D1BC8F5



The IPCC is the main supporter of global warming, their statements are defended blindly by people who don’t want to admit that global warming is not real. People will claim that they took into account natural sources of CO2, they didn’t. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/srccs/index.htm. That is the latest IPCC report, read the entire report, do a search of the documents, there is absolutely no mention of natural sources of CO2. The natural sources have been completely ignored. Also people will claim that the IPCC took the sun into account in their report, this is not entirely correct, while the sun is mentioned the report it’s effects have not been accurately represented.

http://www.john-daly.com/forcing/moderr.htm. The IPCC did not take into account the Svensmark factor. This would greatly reduce the effect of solar radiation on the earth. Look back up to the solar resources to see the effect of the sun correctly represented.

Also allegations have been by IPCC scientists who disagreed with the IPCC statements. They say that their research was censored or taken out of the IPCC report. This is not the first time the IPCC has lied, they forged the famous “hockey stick” graph, which later resulted in a reissuing of the IPCC report.

Here’s another source that disagrees with the IPCC: http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/Sept1004GlobalWarmingPG.pdf

And another: http://www.sepp.org/Archive/NewSEPP/ipccreview.htm

And another: http://www.john-daly.com/guests/un_ipcc.htm

And another: http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/science_policy_general/000318chris_landsea_leaves.html



Quotes form politicians, CEO’s, and others are not proof of global warming, they issue these statements to get votes and customers. Scientists are able to get published and get time on the media by supporting global warming. The IPCC continually lies and misrepresents data so they keep their jobs.



In regards to the precautionary principle that says we can only help if we switch over to alternative energy, this idea is not correct. While this may seem legitimate it only helps the first world, third world countries can not afford to switch to the more expensive energy options. Also the US currently spends 4 billion dollars a year on global warming research which could be better spent on research for disease or to fight poverty. For an excellent example of how the precautionary principle is harmful you do not need to look further than DDT. This pesticide was cheap and incredibly effective but it was banned because of it harmful effects on egg shells. Now thousands of people die every year in third world countries because of malaria, a disease that could be easily controlled with DDT.



I hope anyone who believes in global warming they will take a look at the resources I provided. These resources should convince you that global warming is not man-made, it is caused by cycles in the earths climate. If you are not convinced I hope you at least take a new look at global warming as an unproven idea. Remember that global warming is big business for anyone who aligns themselves with it.



I could not go this entire post without mentioning global cooling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling

http://www.michaelkubacki.com/cooling.htm

In the 1970’s it was claimed that there was a consensus on the fact that the world was headed into an ice age. Some people will just claim that the science wasn’t as advanced; this is an ignorant claim since even our most current science shows a dramatic drop in temperature which also leads to the question why did temperatures drop as CO2 increased the fastest. Most of the global warming crowd does not want you to know about this scare because it is so similar to the scare today. Government panels were formed and claimed the world was headed to an ice age, evidence poured in supporting the claim, a consensus was claimed, then the whole issue just faded away. That is what will happen with the false scare of global warming.