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It is cloudier than it used to be?

Radman40

By Radman40
in The Astro Lounge

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Tim

Tim

Posted
Posted

Planes make clouds. :)

I dont mean the thick type, but they definitely leave a fine haze over the sky. There's a video of it happening on youtube somewhere. So, there is likely more haze now than 30 years ago :)

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mag10

mag10

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I know it's bit outside your postal code (although the latitudes are comparable) but the guys at the telescope shop here in Montreal would certainly agree with you. They say the longest stretches of bad seeing have hapenned in the last two years.

I have to take their word for it. I started astronomy last August, and aside from my first two months, it's been dismal.

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foundaplanet

foundaplanet

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Is it just my imagination or are there more cloudy nights now than when I first got into stargazing over 30 years ago?:)

I have been wondering if it my imagination to. I have only recently started observing again, but I remember for sure many more cold crisp sunny days in the winters than we have been having for the last however many years. I'm sure you are right.

The odds seem to have changed from evens to to about 16-1.. I reckon.........:)

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Radman40

Radman40

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Well the data speaks for itself. Last year was a bad one but there does not seem to be any real trend there compared to 30 years ago. Its probably just my memory playing the 'good old days' on me again. Like most things in life not being as good as they were 30 years ago! (apart from dark chocolate, news papers, Horizon on the BBC, Red Wine and Scones).

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Si W

Si W

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If the professional are right and the sun is going into hibernation this could reduce the amount of cloud formation, and the climents temperature will drop, i read once that in the late 1600 early 1700 the sun was so dormant it went sunspot free for months, and europe went into a mini ice age, the river Thames was frozen all of winter and they had frost fairs and market on it.

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Dave R

Dave R

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If the professional are right and the sun is going into hibernation this could reduce the amount of cloud formation, and the climents temperature will drop

There is lots of uninformed opinion on this currently in newspapers and blogs, most being spread deliberately by climate change deniers to deceive the public. There is no truth in the claims that it would cause cooling. (BTW, their claim is that it would increase the amount of cloud).

What if the sun got stuck?

Thus if the sun remains “out”, i.e., stuck for a long period in the current solar minimum, it can offset only about 7 years of CO2 increase.

Feulner & Rahmstorf 2010: On the effect of a new grand minimum of solar activity on the future climate on Earth (PDF!)

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blackparticle

blackparticle

Posted
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In the two months since getting a scope I haven't missed a clear night yet and I reckon I've been out for at least 20 clear nights.. probably more if you count partially clear skies. Admittedly, some of those have been in South Devon which does seem to have its own microclimate. The rest of Britain could be fogged in and it still be perfectly clear down there on the coast.

As for climate change. Of course the climate is changing.. It changes all the time. We are slowly coming out of an ice-age after all. If, once all the polar ice has melted, the temperatures continue to rise then it might be time to feel slightly concerned.. or move to the lush grasslands of Siberia or Antarctica.. Up until then, it's just nature doing its thing.

I have to agree with TJ though about planes. They are a major factor in certain types of hazy-cloud formation. Especially if you live anywhere near an airports holding stack and can end up with a clear sky looking rather much like this.

chemt.jpg

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blackparticle

blackparticle

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The closure of UK airspace was quite freaky. I hadn't watched the news at all and then drove into London a few days later.. Passing Heathrow I realised the skies were empty and really thought something majorly bad had happened to close it all down. It wasn't until later I found about the volcano.

And yeah, I don't think I'd ever seen London so clear and smog free. :)

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Living under one of the main flightpaths to the US isnt much fun...

Arcs%20Contrails%20and%20Shadows%20.jpg

Looks like were in for another damp summer and those few weeks of decent weatehr were "it" ... perhaps we'll get another decent "indian summer" ...

Remember only a few weeks ago they were saying it was going to be another summer of '76.... record high temps... blah de blah...

I quite like the idea of a "Maunder minimum"... Bring it on :)

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blackparticle

blackparticle

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Yeah, plummeting temperatures, rising fuel prices so less atmospheric pollution, chavs not going on cheap holidays to Tenerife and staying in their homes at night to keep warm, lights getting turned off to save energy.. All good for Astronomy. :)

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jmurray01

jmurray01

Posted
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Don't get me started on clouds!

For the last three weeks, it has literally been cloudy every day - literally!

I'm so sick and tired of it, the grass is loving it though. I've never seen it grow so fast, but I'm not loving it :)

And neither are the windscreen wipers on my Ford loving it either!

Hopefully it will be clear skies soon!

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Si W

Si W

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There is lots of uninformed opinion on this currently in newspapers and blogs, most being spread deliberately by climate change deniers to deceive the public. There is no truth in the claims that it would cause cooling. (BTW, their claim is that it would increase the amount of cloud).

I have to disagree, there is scientific evidence to prove that a dormant sun can influence weather/climate change.

Galileo’s perfection of the telescope in 1609 allowed scientists to see sunspots for the first time. From 1610 A.D. to 1645 A.D., very few sunspots were seen, despite the fact that many scientists with telescopes were looking for them, and from 1645 to 1700 AD sunspots virtually disappeared from the sun. During this interval of greatly reduced sunspot activity, known as the Maunder Minimum, global climates turned bitterly cold (the Little Ice Age), demonstrating a clear correspondence between sunspots and cool climate. After 1700 A.D., the number of observed sunspots increased sharply from nearly zero to more than 50 and the global climate warmed.

post-19932-133877620416_thumb.png

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Luke Inup

Luke Inup

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I have to disagree, there is scientific evidence to prove that a dormant sun can influence weather/climate change.

Galileo’s perfection of the telescope in 1609 allowed scientists to see sunspots for the first time. From 1610 A.D. to 1645 A.D., very few sunspots were seen, despite the fact that many scientists with telescopes were looking for them, and from 1645 to 1700 AD sunspots virtually disappeared from the sun. During this interval of greatly reduced sunspot activity, known as the Maunder Minimum, global climates turned bitterly cold (the Little Ice Age), demonstrating a clear correspondence between sunspots and cool climate. After 1700 A.D., the number of observed sunspots increased sharply from nearly zero to more than 50 and the global climate warmed.

Does this mean the weather is affected by the Sun?

Thank the fates for that. I was under the impression it had something to do with us and carbon emissions. At least that's what the Government say when they take more money off me, because I run a 'gas guzzler'! :)

JonJon

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Si W

Si W

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Does this mean the weather is affected by the Sun?

Thank the fates for that. I was under the impression it had something to do with us and carbon emissions. At least that's what the Government say when they take more money off me, because I run a 'gas guzzler'! :)

JonJon

There's a lot of think tanks and universities out there debating to carbon emissions issue, and have been for year's, some publicly contradict each other rather than producing concrete scientific evidence, this is only confusing the public even more, with regards to the Goverment, there just jumping on the band wagon and using it as another excuse to Tax us more. I think the jury is still out on this one, and no offical body, or other body has produced conclusive evidence to prove the impact of carbon emissions.

Edit: There is certainly more scientific evidence to prove the sun impacts weather/climate due to solar cycles rather than the current cardon emission debate.

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