- Some people believe in global warming. Many do not. Global
warming has become a political issue, which detracts from whatever truth
may exist on the subject. Once politicians become involved in something,
that something becomes muddled, addled and completely unclear. Science
is thrown away with the dirty dishwater. And the shame of that fact overwhelms
reality.
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- So, is there global warming? Yes.
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- What is the cause of global warming? Wrong question!
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- What are the causes of global warming? Good question.
Let's take a look at some answers.
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- First and foremost, global warming exists. There is no
denying the fact. Our planet is experiencing a phenomena which cannot be
denied. But the question which remains is, why? And the answer is complex.
To begin, global warming is not restricted to the planet Earth. We see
the results of global warming on Mars. We see new storms, strangely shaped
storms, on the giant planets. Storms never having been seen before. At
least not in the time during which we were able to see them.
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- Second, but just as foremost, the sun is supposed to
be at it's "solar minimum." The cycle between solar minimum and
solar maximum is eleven years. We are at the very top or at least within
two sigma, of solar minimum. That means fewer solar flares, fewer solar mass
ejections and a sun which is supposed to be remaining relatively quiet
when compared to it's maximum.
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- The problem is, the sun is not quiet. Not by a long shot.
Those of us who are ham operators are seeing DX (long haul contacts ...
hearing and working hams all over the world) are seeing a huge amount of
it and it's happening on frequencies which are active with DX only during
the solar maximum. I've personally have been consistently working hams
all over the planet on the 160 meter band. That frequency band is VLF to
hams. Very Low Frequency. The wave is extremely long. The same is true
of the 80 meter ham band.
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- Those of you who listen to AM radio are seeing ... make
that hearing ... a good deal of fading of your normally stable radio stations.
For example, I live closer to New York City than to Syracuse as the crow
flies. However I cannot listen to New York radio stations due to extreme
fading. I can listen to long distance stations, such as Syracuse.
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- Now the AM broadcast band is very low frequency. Lower
than 160 meters. What you hear when you listen to these stations is a ground
wave. It is what travels along the ground, not what bounces off the ionosphere,
bouncing back at great distance from the source of the signal. That being
the tower antenna, a vertical antenna. What happens during a solar minimum
is simple enough to comprehend. The signal does not bounce off the ionosphere
and hit the earth at a greater distance than that ground wave I mentioned.
And so the radio station's signal is stable. You can listen without interference.
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- When the sun is at it's maximum and only at night, the
signal from your local AM radio station is part ground wave and part
sky wave. Since it takes longer for the sky wave to bounce back to earth,
to your radio receiver, than it does for the ground wave to hit your antenna,
there is a phase difference. Part of the signal fades out due to this rarefaction
and reinforcement of the radio wave. That is what causes fade. A phase
difference due to two signals reaching you at nearly the same time, but
one is out of phase with the other and cancels and/or reinforces the signal.
You hear the station strong one moment and fading out the next.
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- For me, I can hear the sky wave of a distant station
more clearly and steady than the local AM radio station I hear so well
during the day. Again, this is a SOLAR MAXIMUM effect. But we are NOT at
solar maximum. We are at solar minimum and this should not be happening.
But it is happening. And the reason is the huge activity on our local star,
the sun.
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- The same is true on the short wave low frequency bands
like 80 and 160 meters. Only on those ham bands, the effect is amplified
by the fact of the shorter wavelength, which goes a heck of a lot farther
than AM Radio. I've worked more than 35 states including Hawaii and about
a dozen hams or more in Europe and Asia. I should not be able to do that.
Not consistently. But I do. And the above took place on 160 meters.
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- On 80 meters, it's even better. When I was first licensed
as a ham, my call sign was K2SPG. I had a low power Heathkit running about
35 watts into the antenna. I worked about 30 states and about a handful
of DX stations across Europe. That took me more than two solar cycles.
I had to wait eleven years for best reception. No longer. And with the
same power, I have done similarly in less than three months ... and this
during a solar minimum. Great Golly Miss Molly!
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- Why this dissertation on Ham Radio?
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- Easy. The sun is warming up. Our nearest star is extremely
active. When the time comes for the solar cycle to become 'active,' Lord
only knows how it will affect life on this planet. Our sun can be
extraordinarily dangerous to human life, to flora and fauna. Mass ejections
can affect nearly everything on this earth, from our satellite systems
(therefore communications such as Satellite TV, telephone, radio, military
and navigation systems) to life itself. Solar particles can kill. And it
can kill not only plant but also animal and human life. This is serious
stuff, People.
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- Our sun, therefore, is affecting our planet and most
of the others. This is the primary cause of planetary warming. But it isn't
the entire reason. We humans are doing a damned good job of messing it
up, causing more than twice the mess which an overactive sun would cause.
Burning fossil fuels, wasting energy of the worst kind, burning coal and
having the planet's largest, most populated country beginning it's own
growth stage similar to America's early twentieth century growth.
Merely downsizing our use of carbon based fuels is not enough. In fact,
the manner in which our sun cab become dangerous to life here on earth
can preclude just about anything we do to protect our planet from
harm do to hydrocarbons in our atmosphere.
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- In conclusion, defending ourselves by developing
alternative sources of energy ... and we HAVE the technology to do so ...
is the least we can do to minimize the dangers to life. To this writer,
the most important thing we can do right now, this very moment, is to depoliticize
the issue. If we do that, all emotion, politics and non rational thinking
is removed from solving the problem. There would no longer be
an argument ... "There is ..." --- "No there ain't"
and etc. Leave the solution to science and technology. Then do a lot of
praying. Our earth would no longer be a place we can survive. In fact,
I don't think I would enjoy living underground.
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- Would you?
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- Jim Mortellaro,
- AKA, Morty
- Web Site: http://www.mortyscabin.net/
- Email us At:
- Morty@MortysCabin.Net
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