More Things To Make You Go, “Hmmmmmm?”

Close on the heels of the story that the global average temperature of Mars has risen almost the exact same amount that Earth has experienced in recent years comes this dire warning: Solar energy bursts are putting the Global Positioning Satellite network in serious jeopardy. Along with a lot of other high-tech things on the Earth and nearby orbit.

"Our increasingly technologically dependent society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to space weather," David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service, said at a briefing…..

……The cause for their concern, Johnson said, was an unexpected solar radio burst on Dec. 6 that affected virtually every GPS receiver on the lighted half of Earth. Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy while others completely lost the ability to determine position, he said.

Solar activity rises and falls in 11-year cycles, with the next peak expected in 2011.

If that increasing level of activity produces more such radio bursts the GPS system could be seriously affected, the researchers said.

And protecting the system is no simple task, added Paul M. Kintner Jr., a professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University, who monitored the December event.

There are two possible ways to shield the system, he said, both very expensive. Either alter all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or replace all of the GPS satellites with ones that broadcast a stronger signal.

That's why it's essential to learn more about the sun's behavior quickly in an effort to find ways to predict such events, the researchers said.

In addition to the GPS system, the December solar flare affected satellites and induced unexpected currents in the electrical grid, Johnson said.

"The effects were more profound than we expected and more widespread than we expected," added Kintner.

Dale E. Gary, chairman of the physics department of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the burst produced 10 times more radio noise than any burst previously recorded.

Again, there is a lot more going on that needs to be looked into before declaring the "science" of global warming settled and attempting bureaucratic inquisitions (and a festive auto de fe or two) of people who want answers to those questions.