The Earth is more closely-coupled to the Sun than we thought.
The Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field which itself exists in the solar magentic field. This article suggests that the aurora borealis (and australius) are caused by current and charged particles flowing through "magnetic ropes" ("flux tubes"?) which link the Earth and the Sun.
This shows that we can't look at the Sun's visible output as the only measure of the total energy transfer from our system's primary to our planet. These "magnetic ropes" could represent a non-obvious conduit for solar energy to be pumped into Earth's atmosphere--"non-obvious" by default since we've been observing the sun for centuries and only now discovered this phenomenon. What else could there be?
Ultimately any and all energy which warms the Earth comes from the sun, one way or another. Seems to me we ought to understand these mechanisms before ruining the global economy with "carbon caps", particularly when the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere lags warming.
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In the same vein, this article.
"The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 as well as every year since 2001. Global warming has, temporarily or permanently, ceased. Temperatures across the world are not increasing as they should according to the fundamental theory behind global warming – the greenhouse effect...."
Oh well.
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Idiocy:
I took Mom to the bank and we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for my famous yakisoba. There was a car parked in the alley right in front of the store's rear entrance.
A "car"--a little BMW convertible. Just sitting there, in the middle of the way, engine running, no driver, passenger sitting in the passenger seat.
I moved around the thing and found a parking spot; as Mom and I were going in, the driver of the thing came strutting out--a 30-40-something woman dressed extra-glam. Obviously she was too important even to pull off to one side of the alley so other vehicles could get past--after all, she was just going in for one item!
Yeah. Real considerate, you stupid bitch. We're not impressed.
I've come to the conclusion that BMW owners drive like raging assholes. I have two examples which immediately come to mind:
In 2005 I was on my way home from work and a BMW asshole was crawling over some gravel--I mean, like 5 MPH in a 45 zone--so I ducked left and passed him. This infuriated him (because some dust got on his car?) so he tailgated me, skipping a stop sign to stay on my butt, and then passed me in a no-passing zone. This tower of restraint and intellect was driving a dealership car and turned out to be one of the freaking owners of the dealership.
On my way to work one morning in 2000, I was behind a BMW jerk who was going 45 in a 55. No biggie; I just ducked into the left lane to pass him--whereupon he sped up, so I ducked back behind him...and he slowed down to 45 again. So I again got into the left lane to pass, he again sped up. (No, I wasn't tailgating him, either time.) This time I stayed in the left lane. And I discovered that a 1995 Escort LX with a manual transmission can accelerate faster than a BMW 318i. Ha, ha.
...but there are many other incidents which are less clear. I drove 100 miles plus per day for seven years, from 1990-1997, and I had to put up with a lot of assholery from BMW drivers. Even Cadillac and Mercedes drivers aren't as bad as BMW owners. Lordy!
The stupid inconsiderate selfish bitch who blocked the alley so she wouldn't have to walk an extra ten feet is just typical of the breed.