Record Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere Puzzles Scientists

An upper layer of Earth's atmosphere recently collapsed in an unexpectedly large contraction, the sheer size of which has scientists scratching their heads, NASA announced Thursday.

The layer of gas – called the thermosphere – is now rebounding again. This type of collapse is not rare, but its magnitude shocked scientists.

Follow the link for the full story:

www.space.com...


CO2...solar activity...they just don't know...wow. Any thoughts ?

Weird, eh? I had never heard of something like that happening, and after reading that article, I am not sure of the consequences of what it means. But hey, star and flag for ya anyway.

HARRP? Its gotta be HARRP, all they ever do is manipulate the atmosphere and all its different layers for testing there weird technology.

A "record" based on 43 years of observation doesn't really sound too impressive.

The article doesn't mention this part of the paper (from the abstract)

The height dependence of the mass density anomalies suggests that they are attributable to a combination of lower than expected exospheric temperature (−14 K) and reductions in the number density of atomic oxygen (−12%) and other species (−3%) near the base of the diffusive portion of the thermosphere.

source

In other words changes in the lower parts of the atmosphere as well as those above the thermosphere. It's just as complex as weather on the surface. A lot going on. A lot to learn.


[edit on 7/15/2010 by Phage]

reply to post by DClairvoyant


My very first thought was the same.

I do not understand the complexity of such a collapse, but yes, HARRP does come to mind.

I agree with you Phage, a lot going on, a lot to learn!

~S.

It sounds like the earth is gasping for air,maybe a case of emphysema ,I recommend cut down on the smoking and a few million years of bedrest.

All I gotta say is I called it!!

Last post.

7/10/2010 @ 11:54 PM

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 7/15/2010 by reticledc]

Solar activity in the past week or two has been causing C flares and it is unconfirmed but believed that there may have been an M flare yesterday. It knocked out an observatory for a few mins that was viewing the sun flares. Also there are the coronal holes. I think satellites are being affected as some have been getting errors on the net and today I found out that a lot of the processors in my town were not operating - at all. People were unable to use debit cards, food stamp cards, etc. I think we are entering some interesting times for our planet.


Sorry no link - unconfirmed as this is just info I have picked up here and there and food for thought.

A lot going on, to say the least.

Interesting article OP

[edit on 15-7-2010 by crazydaisy]

reply to post by crazydaisy

There were 2 C-class flares on July 14 and 1 slight B-class flare yesterday. Nothing approaching an M-class (which is of moderate intensity).
No solar observatory was "knocked out".

[edit on 7/15/2010 by Phage]

Originally posted by Phage

In other words changes in the lower parts of the atmosphere as well as those above the thermosphere. It's just as complex as weather on the surface. A lot going on. A lot to learn.

That being the case, this statement, makes no sense at all.

To calculate the collapse, Emmert analyzed the decay rates of more than 5,000 satellites orbiting above Earth between 1967 and 2010. This provided a space-time sampling of thermospheric density, temperature, and pressure covering almost the entire Space Age.

Emmert suggests carbon dioxide (CO2) in the thermosphere might play a role in explaining the atmospheric collapse.

This gas acts as a coolant, shedding heat via infrared radiation. It is widely-known that CO2 levels have been increasing in Earth's atmosphere. Extra CO2 in the thermosphere could have magnified the cooling action of solar minimum.

"But the numbers don't quite add up," Emmert said. "Even when we take CO2 into account using our best understanding of how it operates as a coolant, we cannot fully explain the thermosphere's collapse."

To me this just seems like a too simplified way to calculate the wanted data. Plus there can be vast differences in the data because of advances in measuring devices from 1967 to 2010. Half the data could be off. As an Idiot of course, I do not understand how you can derive " thermospheric density, temperature, and pressure" just by studying orbital decay rates of these satellites. Unless other data was studied we are not being told about. Do they take this data from the satellites themselves - from the satellites sensors?? If so.. who's to say all of this data is 100 % correct? Devices in space malfunction all the time.

Originally posted by crazydaisy
I think satellites are being affected as some have been getting errors on the net and today I found out that a lot of the processors in my town were not operating - at all. People were unable to use debit cards, food stamp cards, etc. I think we are entering some interesting times for our planet.

I have my doubts any satellites are being affected. I work for an internet technical support company one of the major internet services we provide assistance for is satellite internet. No more problems than normal.

As for the main topic here, I don't have too many thoughts on it. I feel a lot of this is just natural cycles of our planet. Nothing to be too concerned about, but maybe that's just me..

reply to post by JohnPhoenix

That's the trouble with general consumption interpretations of scientific articles. You never really get the answers to questions like yours (which are probably in the source material).

Sorry to have to intervene, but the topic was posted here 3 minutes earlier.

Please direct comments to the preceding thread.

closing