The sun is entering one of the deepest Solar Minima of the Space Age. Sunspots have been absent for most of 2018, and the sun's ultraviolet output has sharply dropped. New research shows that Earth's upper atmosphere is responding.
"We see a cooling trend," says Martin Mlynczak of NASA's Langley Research Center. "High above Earth's surface near the edge of space, our atmosphere is losing heat energy. If current trends continue, the upper atmosphere could soon set a Space Age record for cold."
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We've been in the high 70s/low 80s the past few days.
For the next 10 days we are experiencing indian summer. Loving it!
Snow is in the forecast for next Tuesday and we are dropping to the low 30s at night.
@ Kim B., no, it is not a NASA site
Kim, I think the issue is lack of sunspots, not so much whether the sun's rays feel warm at any given time. Our climate is affected by sunspots. Here's a link that gives more details: https://www.wcpo.com/weather/sunspots.
Now, whether spaceweather.com is being truthful, I don't know. When I took a meteorology class, I remember being surprised to read that increasingly hot temperatures preceded ice ages, though I don't remember why. I posited at the time that maybe global warming was nothing more than still coming out of the last mini ice age, i.e., the temperatures hadn't actually stabilized to normal yet.
Dee, :D
And btw, yesterday as I stepped out into the beautiful sunny weather, the sun felt plenty hot. Actually, the sun's rays feel warmer than normal.
Space weather. Is this a NASA site? IF so I don't buy it.
@ Cheryl chuckle, chuckle, chortle, chortle
So much for global warming, huh?