The Dark Ages

[Grok]

An interesting and hopefully alarming read, about how the Earth is getting darker.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1108853,00.html

It also explains why global warming did not cause water to evaporate faster.  That has perplexed scientists for 20 years.

[Probe]

that was interesting, what does everyone think about it?

[Meh]

Thats really intresting. Imagine what it would have been like millions of years ago. It must have been really bright if its is dimming 3% a decade. My freind has a theory about global warming and stuff maybe  ill post a link to it when i have time.

[Grok]

Thats really intresting. Imagine what it would have been like millions of years ago. It must have been really bright if its is dimming 3% a decade. My freind has a theory about global warming and stuff maybe  ill post a link to it when i have time.

Hmm, 3% a decade for the last 50 years, not for the last million years.

I'm not a physicist, nor a meteorologist (overlapping disciplines), but my theory is that the visible spectrum radiation energy is being converted to heat by the 19th and 20th century polution, causing global warming, but diminishing the light.  The article speculates on the same cause.

As they said, the radiation coming from the sun has increased over the last 150 years, so you would expect the opposite effect.  But we're probably polluting faster than the sun is heating.  I blame the French.

[Meh]

I blame the French.

I wouldnt go there. It makes you sound a bit like Hitler and the jews. But out of intrest.. Why the French.

[Raven]

that the visible spectrum radiation energy is being converted to heat by the 19th and 20th century polution, causing global warming, but diminishing the light.  

That makes about as much sense as an overheated processor creating a black hole.

[Grok]

Hehe what?  Never heard of that theory.

I was speaking strictly from a perspective of energy conservation -- that energy is not lost, but merely converted forms.  As polution increases the cross section of interaction to photonic energy, more of that is converted to kinetic energy in the particles which it collided with.  Pretty much the same reason you get hot standing in the sun.

[Hitmen]

I think global warming is a conspiracy, it seems to get colder here every year. New England always seems to be the oddball though, so who knows.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

I agree, northeastern MA has been hit with 2 noreasters already.

When fuel cells take hold, world problems will be solved.

[Adron]

I blame the French.

No need to go that far from home.

[iago]

I blame the French.

I wouldnt go there. It makes you sound a bit like Hitler and the jews. But out of intrest.. Why the French.

Everything bad thing is because of the french..

[Grok]

I blame the French.

No need to go that far from home.

True, CSB should share the blame.

[Trance]

When fuel cells take hold, world problems will be solved.

Yeah, but I'm not sure if the conversion will take place all that fast. It's very likely that the oil companies will do everything they can to prevent the switch.

[Raven]

Hehe what?  Never heard of that theory.

I was speaking strictly from a perspective of energy conservation -- that energy is not lost, but merely converted forms.  As polution increases the cross section of interaction to photonic energy, more of that is converted to kinetic energy in the particles which it collided with.  Pretty much the same reason you get hot standing in the sun.

I think you're confusing facts a bit here. Photonic concentration determines the intensity of light. You seem to be stating that as photonic energy decreases, kinetic energy will increase because the molecules bounce around more. So are you saying the layers of polution have a scattering effect? Or that the more polution we have, the less kinetic energy there is, hereby increasing photon concentration, thereby causing light to concentrate instead of spreading out, decreasing light but increasing its intensity?

[Stealth]

I blame the French.

No need to go that far from home.

True, CSB should share the blame.

And Ronald Reagan. (Who, of course, is responsible for anything remotely negative that happens anywhere at any time.)