No, better get the 590 soon.  Harold Camping, the dude who predicted it 
would end May 21 says he miscalculated and the new Rapture will be on 
October 21st.  Looks like I won't be able to make the CQ Worldwide DX 
contest.

Steve, K8SP

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Butch Bussen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots


> Cheer up Phil, the world is supposed to end in 2012 anyhow!!!
> 73
> Butch
> WA0VJR
>
> On Wed, 15
> Jun 2011, Phil Scovell wrote:
>
>> Steve,
>>
>> Thanks for sharing that article.  Very interesting and just when Butch
>> forked over a fortune for a new radio, too.  Poor fellow.  What puzzles 
>> me
>> is that I thought we were the cause of climate change and global warming.
>> Now we find out, as if we didn't already know for years, that the sun 
>> plays
>> one hell of a roll in climate change.  No more long path for a few years, 
>> I
>> guess.  Bummer.  It beats having the sun nova, that's for sure.  I
>> definitely don't want to be around for that climate change, when the sun
>> goes nova, that is.  Especially when they now know a complete nova, for a
>> sun our size, can cycle through a complete nova in 7 years; start to 
>> finish.
>>
>> Phil.
>> K0NX
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 10:28 AM
>> Subject: Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots
>>
>>
>>>  a.. a.. Print
>>> AFP/File =E2=80=93 For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun =
>>> would move into solar maximum, a period of intense =E2=80=A6=20
>>> by Kerry Sheridan Kerry Sheridan =E2=80=93 Tue Jun 14, 5:38 pm ET
>>> WASHINGTON (AFP) =E2=80=93 For years, scientists have been predicting =
>>> the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of =
>>> intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has =
>>> suggested quite the opposite.
>>>
>>> According to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday, =
>>> experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and =
>>> heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century.
>>>
>>> The signs include a missing jet stream, fading spots, and slower =
>>> activity near the poles, said experts from the National Solar =
>>> Observatory and Air Force Research Laboratory.
>>>
>>> "This is highly unusual and unexpected," said Frank Hill, associate =
>>> director of the NSO's Solar Synoptic Network, as the findings of the =
>>> three studies were presented at the annual meeting of the American =
>>> Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
>>>
>>> "But the fact that three completely different views of the Sun point in 
>>> =
>>> the same direction is a powerful indicator that the sunspot cycle may be 
>>> =
>>> going into hibernation."
>>>
>>> Solar activity tends to rise and fall every 11 years or so. The solar =
>>> maximum and solar minimum each mark about half the interval of the =
>>> magnetic pole reversal on the Sun, which happens every 22 years.
>>>
>>> Hill said the current cycle, number 24, "may be the last normal one for 
>>> =
>>> some time and the next one, cycle 25, may not happen for some time.
>>>
>>> "This is important because the solar cycle causes space weather which =
>>> affects modern technology and may contribute to climate change," he told 
>>> =
>>> reporters.
>>>
>>> Experts are now probing whether this period of inactivity could be a =
>>> second Maunder Minimum, which was a 70-year period when hardly any =
>>> sunspots were observed between 1645-1715, a period known as the "Little 
>>> =
>>> Ice Age."
>>>
>>> "If we are right, this could be the last solar maximum we'll see for a =
>>> few decades. That would affect everything from space exploration to =
>>> Earth's climate," said Hill.
>>>
>>> Solar flares and eruptions can send highly charged particles hurtling =
>>> toward Earth and interfere with satellite communications, GPS systems =
>>> and even airline controls.
>>>
>>> Geomagnetic forces have been known to occasionally garble the world's =
>>> modern gadgetry, and warnings were issued as recently as last week when 
>>> =
>>> a moderate solar flare sent a coronal mass ejection in the Earth's =
>>> direction.
>>>
>>> The temperature change associated with any reduction in sunspot activity 
>>> =
>>> would likely be minimal and may not be enough to offset the impact of =
>>> greenhouse gases on global warming, according to scientists who have =
>>> published recent papers on the topic.
>>>
>>> "Recent solar 11-year cycles are associated empirically with changes in 
>>> =
>>> global surface temperature of 0.1 Celsius," said Judith Lean, a solar =
>>> physicist with the US Naval Research Laboratory.
>>>
>>> If the cycle were to stop or slow down, the small fluctuation in =
>>> temperature would do the same, eliminating the slightly cooler effect of 
>>> =
>>> a solar minimum compared to the warmer solar maximum. The phenomenon was 
>>> =
>>> witnessed during the descending phase of the last solar cycle.
>>>
>>> This "cancelled part of the greenhouse gas warming of the period =
>>> 2000-2008, causing the net global surface temperature to remain =
>>> approximately flat -- and leading to the big debate of why the Earth =
>>> hadn't (been) warming in the past decade," Lean, who was not involved in 
>>> =
>>> the three studies presented, said in an email to AFP.
>>>
>>> A study in the March 2010 issue of Geophysical Research Letters explored 
>>> =
>>> what effect an extended solar minimum might have, and found no more than 
>>> =
>>> a 0.3 Celsius dip by 2100 compared to normal solar fluctuations.
>>>
>>> "A new Maunder-type solar activity minimum cannot offset the global =
>>> warming caused by human greenhouse gas emissions," wrote authors Georg =
>>> Feulner and Stefan Rahmstorf, noting that forecasts by the =
>>> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have found a range of 3.7 =
>>> Celsius to 4.5 Celsius rise by this century's end compared to the latter 
>>> =
>>> half of the 20th century.=20
>>>
>>> "Moreover, any offset of global warming due to a grand minimum of solar 
>>> =
>>> activity would be merely a temporary effect, since the distinct solar =
>>> minima during the last millennium typically lasted for only several =
>>> decades or a century at most."
>>>
>>
>>