Hi Brent, I saw an interesting article in the July S&T, by J. Kelly Beatty entitled "Illuminating Earthshine" (pages 54-55) that may shed some light on this (is that a pun?). Here are a couple relevant paragraphs from the article: "These reflectivity data have become increasingly important in the ongoing debate over global climate change. For example, the Project Earthshine work shows that Earth's albedo made a distinct jump (by roughly 0.5%) from late 1998 through mid-2000, and then afterward it largely leveled off. By comparison, the Sun's output varies only by about 0.1% over an 11-year-long solar cycle. So if Earth has become 0.5% more reflective, then the amount of sunlight reaching the ground has been reduced by about 2 watts per square meter. This change can't be explained by an increase in greenhouse gases - in fact, this increasing albedo trend, if sustained over time, would tend to make Earth cooler, not warmer. Goode says that more observations, covering the period since 2007, should be published soon." I'm not sure if albedo changes have been factored in to any of the IPCC models. I suspect not. Clear skies, Dale. -----Original Message----- From: Utah-Astronomy [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Brent Watson via Utah-Astronomy Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 2:40 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] An interesting article This article points out a common occurrence in science. Models that are used to predict the future are notoriously fallible. They must be continually tweaked to make sense. This is the essence of science and the scientific method. Rarely do we get it right the first time. I bring this up so there can be an intelligent conversation about the topic. There is always way too much name calling and innuendo made by commenters, as can be seen in the comments section of this article. Please, lets have a civil conversation. Without civility there can be no unemotional, fact based debate. I for one would really like to hear the rational facts from both sides of this (unfortunately) hotly debated topic. Again, please no name calling, and only rational fact based debate. http://business.financialpost.com/2014/06/16/the-global-warming-hiatus/ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".