Source: cbc.com
The CBC reported that geyser is exploding on the surface on one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus. It is a small moon, with a diameter of about 1/7 of our moon's. The observations of the geyser come from the spacecraft Cassini-Hyugens, launched by NASA. Scientists are puzzled by this explosion, because they do not know how Enceladus could have enough heat to power the geyser to explode. This may or may not be due to global warming. Right now, the plausible answer, accepted by most scientists, is that there is radioactive matter decaying inside the moon's core.
Jupiter
Source: http://www.mallorcaweb.net/masm/Planetas/Jupiter.jpg
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, as it is commonly refered to as the "Giant Planet." Its diameter is 11 times that of the Earth's. It is a ball of gas, probably helium and hydrogen, with little or no solid surface. The dark clouds are known as belts and the light clouds are zones. Jupiter's most distinctive feature is its Great Red Spot, a storm comparitive to an Earthy hurricane, seen below.
Source: nasa.gov
The famous Great Red Spot has a newly formed "son", according to an article by USA Today. This second red spot is called "Red Spot Junior" by scientists, and studies have emerged attributing this new red spot to global warming. The storm formed when two smaller, weaker storms merged together. Red Spot Jr. is growing quite rapidly, which astronomers see as evidence of a significant temperature rise in that area of the planet. The Hubble Space Telescope provided the images of the broad area where the storm is and a close up, seen below.
Source: usatoday.comSPACE.com also reported on the arrival of Red Spot Jr. Imke de Pater, a professor at University of California, Berkley, told SPACE.com that "The storm is growing in altitude." The growth in altitude is also a signal of rising temperatures.
Enceladus and Jupiter are last planets/moons before the asteroid belt that have signs that could be seen as global warming. Moving towards the Sun, past the belt, is the planet Mars. Mars is the only inner planet besides Earth that might be undergoing solar induced global warming. This will the subject of the next post as well as an examination of the Earth's relationship to the Sun and Earth's twin planet Venus and its interesting atmosphere.
6 comments:
I hadn't heard about the new red spot. So, I guess we do have some evidence that global warming may in part be due to the Sun. Nice work.
What about Mars makes it so that they are also effected by the Sun in regards to global warming. Do they have the greenhouse effect also?
Although other planets are being impacted by the sun, does it seem as if they are as effected as the earth?
Megan,
In some cases yes. I read that scientists believe the warming on those planets are as bad or maybe even worse than Earth's global warming, but some are not. We must keep in mind that these planets are so cold that a jump of 5 degrees is a lot.
Since there are so many reasons for global warming that we have evidence of besides human contribution, do you truely think that a lot of this is due to planetary/ universal climate and changes?
Alyssa,
Personally, I believe that some of global warming is caused by increase in the Sun's radiation, but not a lot. The increase in radiation is probably cyclical and temporary. Also, whether or not you believe global warming is caused by humans, the increase in carbon dioxide would not bode well with the increase in the Sun's radiation anyways. One of the reasons I think the Sun's radiation is a minor cause is because, quite simply not all the planets are undergoing global warming including Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune. Thats a majority of the planets (5 no gw to 4 w/gw).
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