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Our Sun Has Spots.Pdf THE A T M O S P H E R I C R E S E R V O I R Examining the Atmosphere and Atmospheric Resource Management Our Sun Has Spots By Mark D. Schneider Aurora Borealis light shows. If you minima and decreased activity haven’t seen the northern lights for called The Maunder Minimum. Is there actually weather above a while, you’re not alone. The end This period coincides with the our earth’s troposphere that con- of Solar Cycle 23 and a minimum “Little Ice Age” and may be an cerns us? Yes. In fact, the US of sunspot activity likely took place indication that it’s possible to fore- Department of Commerce late last year. Now that a new 11- cast long-term temperature trends National Oceanic and over several decades or Atmospheric Administra- centuries by looking at the tion (NOAA) has a separate sun’s irradiance patterns. division called the Space Weather Prediction Center You may have heard (SWPC) that monitors the about 22-year climate weather in space. Space cycles (two 11-year sun- weather focuses on our sun spot cycles) in which wet and its’ cycles of solar activ- periods and droughts were ity. Back in April of 2007, experienced in the Mid- the SWPC made a predic- western U.S. The years tion that the next active 1918, 1936, and 1955 were sunspot or solar cycle would periods of maximum solar begin in March of this year. forcing, but minimum Their prediction was on the precipitation over parts of mark, Solar Cycle 24 began NASA TRACE PROJECT, OF COURTESY PHOTO the U.S. Corn Belt region. in January and is forecast to There is some correla- peak in October of 2011. tion between sunspots and year sunspot cycle has started, there droughts, but much more research Solar cycles are characterized should be more frequent opportuni- is needed before anything definite by increased sunspot activity and ties to see the northern lights in our can be said. generally have an 11-year lifespan. state over the next few years. This 11-year sunspot cycle is Over the next few years, don’t referred to as the Schwabe cycle, The negative impacts of increased be surprised if your GPS has named after Heinrich Schwabe, who geomagnetic storms include disrup- trouble receiving satellite signals made the astronomical discovery in tion to power grids, military and or your cell phone service experi- 1843. Sunspots are dark regions of aviation communications, Global ences interruptions. It’s all part of the sun that are actually cooler than Positioning System signals, cell the sun’s solar cycle and proof that the surrounding surface. They are phones, and even ATM transactions. our technological advances are still usually found in pairs with oppos- Historical disruptions to humans by susceptible to the ultimate force in ing magnetic fields. These magnetic the sun include interruptions in elec- our solar system. fields cause giant blasts of plasma, trical telegraph service in 1859 and a called solar flares, to travel through 1989 power grid failure that brought Atmospheric Resource Board the solar system, sending waves a blackout to six million Canadians. North Dakota State Water Commission of x-rays and geomagnetic storms 900 East Boulevard, Bismarck, ND 58505 (701) 328-2788 toward the earth. There might be a correlation http://swc.nd.gov between sunspots and climate. Dur- ND Weather Modification Association A positive effect of these geo- ing the mid 1600s to early 1700s the PO Box 2599, Bismarck, ND 58502 magnetic storms is an increase in sun went through a period of sunspot (701) 223-4232 North Dakota Water ■ April 2008 19.
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