Again, Global Warming or not, why spend so much time pitching a fit about the cause? = Why not burn those cycles on how to live the best life while impacting the earth the least? = Support telecommuting! How can I convince my boss? How can I transition to self employment? http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/solar.htm How about painting your roof with silver paint to reduce heat load in the summer? Use a soaker hose at the roof peak adjusted to just keep the roof wet and avoid turning on the A/C? Earth tubes and solar chimneys? Solar cookers? But most of all, reduce our dependency on oil by growing your own food. Much more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. Why isn't there a garden robot? They can fly a camera on three winches over a football field, why can't we rig up a hose, seed and rabbit pellet dispenser, micro weed eater, and camera? How about a social web site that shows an overhead picture of your garden and invites people to play a "game" of nuking your weeds, complete with CGI explosions of the targets. The aggregate result, less protected areas where you know there are plants, can direct the robot to weed the area. http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/robogarden.htm --- James. = = > -----Original Message----- > From: piclist-bounces@MIT.EDU = > [mailto:piclist-bounces@MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Russell McMahon > Sent: 2007 May 22, Tue 06:32 > To: PIC List > Subject: [EE]:: Global Warming - Neptune heating paralells = > earths but with timeoffset > = > At first glance it appears that Neptune is experiencing = > Global Warming in a manner which is reasonably well = > correlated to the earth's. > = > = > http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2007/05/08/neptune-news/ > = > The following is a synopsis of part of the above referenced = > article with most of the (unhelpful) sarcasm removed. > = > = > = > Russell > = > = > = > = > An article in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters shows an = > apparent time offset correlation between the solar output, Neptune=92s = > brightness, and the temperature of the Earth. > = > Neptune=92s cloud tops are extremely cold (-346=B0F) being so far = > from the = > Sun while the center of the planet has a temperature of 13,000=B0F due = > to high pressure generating extremely hot gases. Measurements of = > visible light from Neptune have been taken at the Lowell Observatory = > in Flagstaff, Arizona since 1950. > = > Light from Neptune can be related to seasons on the planet, small = > variations in Neptune=92s orbit, the apparent tilt of the axis = > as viewed = > from the Earth, the varying distance from Neptune to Earth, and = > changes in the atmosphere near the Lowell Observatory. Astronomers = > adjust the measurements accordingly. > = > Neptune has been getting brighter since around 1980; furthermore, = > infrared measurements of the planet since 1980 show that the planet = > has been warming steadily from 1980 to 2004. Hammel and Lockwood = > explored how variations in the output of the Sun might control = > variations in the brightness of Neptune. > = > What would seem so simple statistically is complicated by the degrees = > the correlation coefficient between solar irradiance and Neptune=92s = > brightness is near 0.90 (1.00 is perfect). The same relationship is = > found between the Earth=92s temperature anomalies and the solar output. = > Hammel and Lockwood note =93In other words, the Earth = > temperature values = > are as well correlated with solar irradiance (r =3D 0.89) as they are = > with Neptune=92s blue brightness (|r| > 0.90), assuming a = > 10-year lag of = > the Neptune values.=94 The temporal lag is needed to account for the = > large mass of Neptune that would require years to adjust to any = > changes in solar output. > = > Hammel and Lockwood conclude that =93In summary, if Neptune=92s = > atmosphere = > is indeed responding to some variation in solar activity in a manner = > similar to that of the Earth albeit with a temporal lag=94 then = > =93Neptune = > may provide an independent (and extraterrestrial) locale for studies = > of solar effects on planetary atmospheres.=94 > = > = > -- = > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist