Why has the Sun changed colour during the past 40 years?

Back in the 1980s and earlier, when we looked at the sun it looked distinctly yellow.

Why?

The reason the sun looks yellow to us on Earth is that our atmosphere scatters light from the sun; so the apparent color of the sun changes. This same scattering effect is why the sky looks blue in the day time instead of black, like at night.

However during the past 40 years the colour of the sun has changed, and the scattering effect isn't working any more. Our sun now appears to be white, not yellow.

Now you might wonder, wait what? What has changed???

Well a number of things have changed during the past 40 years.

#1. Our atmosphere has changed. Not a lot, but we definitely have more CO2 and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere now. The makeup of our atmosphere has thus effected the scattering of light.

#2. Our sun has changed its sunspot frequency. Our sun is continually changing and goes through an 11 year solar cycle in which sun spot frequency goes up and down, But roughly every 400 years our sun also goes through a different cycle which is longer, during which it reaches a "solar minimum" when sun spots drops to a really low number, it gives off less heat, and the sun's apparent colour also changes.

#3. The sun's electromagnetic sphere is so strong it effects the Earth's electromagnetic sphere. When the sun's electromagnetic sphere weakens it in turn effects the "solar weather" on the sun, and it effects the atmosphere, the atmospheric scattering effect, the earth's magnetic poles (you may have noticed the north pole is not in Canada any more, it is now in Russian territorial waters), and various other things. It is even theorized to effect volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes.

Altogether this spells disaster during the next 40 years as the sun continues to go through its solar minimum cycle. Go Google "Grand Solar Minimum" if you want to learn more about this topic.

So here is where it gets interesting...

The Grand Solar Minimums often coincides with climate change, social upheavals, and the collapse of empires. Basically the climate suddenly gets a lot colder during a period of roughly 44 years (or longer), and this leads to climate change, crop failures, food shortages, rebellions, governments being overthrown, empires being toppled, etc.

However at the same time we are also dealing with man-made climate change which is making it warmer.

So...

Which will win?

Is man-made climate change stronger than the Grand Solar Minimum? Is man stronger than the sun? In which case maybe it will equal out and we won't notice any big differences in climate change?

Or are we looking at a very bizarre set of circumstances during the next 40+ years and we actually end up with global cooling instead of global warming?

The problem is we don't really know which of these two factors will win. It is kind of a 50/50 situation.

Which means that survivalists / preppers (and solar physicists) are looking at the climate science and going "Hmm???"

And honestly, I am not sure what will happen either.

The science of global warming and climate change is irrefutable.

But the Grand Solar Minimum is happening at the same time...

So it isn't really a done deal for either of them. We are basically looking at a "wait and see" situation where during the next 10 years we will learn which of these two things is more powerful. The sun, or man made global warming.

Wait and see.

In the meantime however I believe we should continue as if Global Warming will win, but prepare for the possibility of Rapid Global Cooling.

Either of these things could lead to massive social unrest if the situation is managed poorly.

The Heart of Robin Hood / Merry Survivalists?

"The Heart of Robin Hood" is a theatre production which is in Toronto at the
Royal Alexandra Theatre (260 King Street West) from December 23, 2014 - March 1, 2015. Ticket prices vary between $45 and $105.

History is full of theatre productions of Robin Hood and you can read up on the history of Robin Hood in theatre productions on Mirvish.com. Expect to see lots of archery, swordplay, swashbuckling and singing.

And possibly even some survivalism. I don't know. I haven't seen it yet, but I will be. The set production alone should be interesting judging from what I have seen on YouTube (see the video of the Robin Hood set from when it was in Manitoba).

Was Robin Hood and his Merry Men survivalists?

It is an interesting idea. A band of outlaws / highwaymen living in the woods, preying on the rich who pass by the roads nearby. Wood skills, archery skills and a dose of swashbuckling.

If you watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) the 'Merry Men' even build treehouses and bridges in the trees, effectively a village in the trees for their defense.

Sort of like the treehouses below.

Given time such a 'village in trees' might eventually look more like Lothlorien (the elven town from The Lord of the Rings).

But whatever. Robin Hood's knowledge of traps, hunting, ambushing targets and skill with a bow would give Rambo a challenge. (Or possibly beat Rambo easily. Who would win in a game of woodsman skills / fight.)

We leave you to decide whether Robin Hood should be considered to be a survivalist. If such a person ever existed.

Being Prepared does not mean you have to be ridiculous

While I admit the photo on the right looks pretty awesome I also think that it is wholly unnecessary for survivalists to prepare for that level of event wherein you are walking around with a compound bow, wearing a gas mask and presumably shooting everything that moves.

If it gets that bad where society has fallen apart, nuclear fallout zones are killing everything, scarcity of animal and plant life - well then you really don't need to prepare for that possibility because on the list of disasters that can befall people and the planet, nuclear war is further down the list in terms of which is more likely to happen.

What is far more likely to happen is...

Floods
Earthquakes
Tsunami
Ice storms that knock out the electricity
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Avalanches / Mud slides
Wild fires
Train derailments
Gas pipeline explosions
Flu pandemics killing a percentage of the population

My basic point is that the threat of natural disasters are far more likely any man made nuclear apocalypse. I am not saying it cannot happen, but I am saying that you are more likely to die in a flood than you are to die from nuclear fallout.

Floods alone kill more people than tornadoes and hurricanes combined.

So if you want to be prepared, be prepared for natural disasters first and foremost. Be realistic about it.

Deer Crossing Lady on the Radio

I normally don't post funny things on Project Gridless but I made an exception for this because I felt the video was both "that funny" and worth sharing on here.



And Part Two below...