solar (Page 13)

We have reported before that the upcoming 2010-2011 solar cycle is expected to be large. Now, continuing studies of the sun have led solar scientists to predict that it may turn out to be the largest ever recorded. Sunspot cycles have been recorded since the time of Galileo, and four of the five largest ever seen have been recorded in the past 50 years. Solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center explains that the current level of geomagnetic activity tells us what the solar cycle will be like in 6 to 8 years, and current levels of activity indicate that the next cycle will be extremely strong. The reason that this correlation would exist is not known, but the statistics are clear: it does work, and has show consistency using data going back to 1868.
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Sunspot 930 sent a powerful solar storm toward earth from an X3 class solar flare, and the unstable sunspot has a 35% chance of emitting more X class solar flares at any time. The solar storm resulting has the potential to damage satellites and expose passengers in high flying aircraft to excessive radiation. The astronauts aboard the space station took shelter in a radiation shielded area of the craft. Sunspot 930 began as an unusual ring shaped formation that exploded so violently that it sent a shock wave across the entire surface of the sun. It is now a massive sunspot three times the size of the earth. It is in the process of rotating away from earth, but if another flare takes place within the next 24 hours, its effects will be felt on earth.
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A current crop of solar flares could disrupt GPS systems, which more and more cars are using. They are also standard equipment on jet planes, which makes the flares a potentially much more serious problem. But GPS is not the only thing these solar flares could stress?the radiation they give off could harm astronauts’ brains.

Fiery discharges from the sun may not bother the GPS in your car are on your cell phone. In LiveScience.com, Jeanna Bryner quotes Paul Kintner Jr. as saying, “If you’re driving to the beach using your car’s navigation system, you’ll be OK. If you’re on a commercial airplane in zero visibility weather, maybe not.”
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According to new research, changes in the sun’s brightness over the past few hundred years have had only a small effect on Earth’s climate, so we can’t blame global warming on solar activity. But some researchers still think the sun has an influence on global warming and these researchers say the sun MAY give us a reprieve, a chance to save ourselves.
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