Fireball Tokyo - 11.06.2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLcUwIsCanI

Small Fluctuations In Solar Activity, Large Influence On Climate

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827141349.htm

An international team of scientists led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) used more than a century of weather observations and three powerful computer models to tackle one of the more difficult questions in meteorology: if the total energy that reaches Earth from the Sun varies by only 0.1 percent across the approximately 11-year solar cycle, how can such a small variation drive major changes in weather patterns on Earth?
The answer, according to the new study, has to do with the Sun's impact on two seemingly unrelated regions. Chemicals in the stratosphere and sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean respond during solar maximum in a way that amplifies the Sun's influence on some aspects of air movement. This can intensify winds and rainfall, change sea surface temperatures and cloud cover over certain tropical and subtropical regions, and ultimately influence global weather.
"The Sun, the stratosphere, and the oceans are connected in ways that can influence events such as winter rainfall in North America," says NCAR scientist Gerald Meehl, the lead author. "Understanding the role of the solar cycle can provide added insight as scientists work toward predicting regional weather patterns for the next couple of decades."

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Giant anvil-shaped cloud hovering 75,000ft above Earth is photographed by Space Station astronauts

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1202973/Pictured-Spaceship-shaped-cloud-hovering-Earth-captured-astronauts.html

A giant, anvil-shaped cloud bubbles up towards the Earth's stratosphere, looming over West Africa. The amazing formation would be invisible to anyone on the ground and would even be obscure from a regular passenger jet since they can reach up to 75,000ft. But astronauts captured the astonishing picture from hundreds of miles up as they orbited the globe on the International Space Station.

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Sprite: Spirits of Another Sort

·Thunderstorms Generate Elusive and Mysterious Sprites.
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/essd10jun99_1.htm

For centuries, man has been transfixed by the spectacular lightning displays of thunderstorms. But after all those years of gazing at the sky, we never realized there was an equally amazing light show going on above the clouds.
In our own century, pilots reported seeing strange lights in the sky above thunderstorms. Low-light cameras on board airplanes and the Space Shuttle have recently made possible the documentation of sprites - quick red flashes of light that appear above storm clouds.

Dr. Dave Sentman of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks is one among a small group of researchers who have been studying these mysterious bursts of colored light. Although no one is sure what sprites really are or what causes them, these scientists have learned that sprites contain a great deal of energy.

"Although we're not yet certain, we suspect that the energies from sprites may be sufficient to drive some novel chemical reactions," said Sentman. "The region of the atmosphere where sprites appear typically doesn't contain a lot of energy, so the energy introduced from a sprite could do some really interesting things."

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The cloud with no name: Meteorologists campaign to classify unique 'Asperatus' clouds seen across the world

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1189877/The-cloud-Meteorologists-campaign-classify-unique-Asperatus-clouds-seen-world.html



[Source: dailymail.co.uk]