Monday, February 13, 2006

Global Warming my Eye

At last, there's a report of what's really going on with the climate [check here] - we're headed for another Ice Age.
For years I've been telling everyone who'll listen that we should pump as much of those "greenhouse gasses" into the atmosphere as possible - anything to cushion the coming Ice Age. Just look at the activity of the sun: where are the neutrinos? Riddle me that, global warming man!
The sun is entering a downtime in the cycle of sunspots, and it's already dropped its fusion activity radically - there are simply not nearly enough neutrinos coming out to sustain current energy output. We're about to see the sun's radius reduced slightly, causing an increase in density, causing a re-ignition of the fusion reaction. Of course, in the meantime, we're looking at dropping temperatures. Cuddle alert if ever there was one!
For a fun novelized exploration of what's about to happen, check out "Fallen Angels" by Niven, Pournelle, and Flynn [check it out here]. It's especially fun if you've ever been part of a science fiction convention, but once you're into the story, that's just icing on the cake. Highly recommended.
Now go put on a sweater!