"Solar Variations and Surface Temperature Changes"
by
Dr John Butler, Armagh Observatory
‘The impact of the solar cycle on surface air temperatures will be considered, with special reference to the long record of surface air temperatures measured at Armagh Observatory’
Summary:The warming of the lower troposphere in recent decades has been widely attributed to an enhanced greenhouse effect. Whilst it is likely that increasing carbon dioxide and methane levels are at least partially responsible, it remains a possibility that other mechanisms are also involved which derive from changes in the Sun. We show some of the evidence for a solar contribution, with particular emphasis on the possible links between solar activity and atmospheric temperature through the effects of cosmic rays on low cloud. We conclude with a brief description of some current projects which it is hoped will clarify these links.
Venue: Maxwell Theatre in the Hamilton Building – Map Attached
Date / Time: Thursday 4th December 2008 at 8pm
Details of Lecturer:John Butler is Emeritus Research Fellow at Armagh Observatory. He graduated from Edinburgh University in Honours Physics in 1963 and was a scholar at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies from 1964 to 1971, specialising in the photometry of Cepheid Variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds. He was awarded a PhD in Astrophysics by Dublin University in 1971 and from 1971 to 1973 was Assistant Astronomer at Dunsink Observatory. In 1973 he moved to Armagh Observatory where he was a Research Astronomer until 2005.