posted on Feb, 4 2022 @ 10:12 AM
I have been noticing that the sun seems to rise in the summer quite a bit farther north than it used to. My house sits almost exactly east-west, so at
the most the sun should rise close to directly in line with it; yet the sun seems to move actually north of that east-west line at times close to the
summer solstice. Of course, I have no documentation (like a sundial with records going back several years) and memory is a funny thing, so let's look
at this logically using *shock* *gasp* science.
First of all, what could account for this observation (which aligns with the source article)? A change in the inclination of the Earth's rotation
could do so, obviously. So what else would we expect from this inclination change, should it occur? Well, obviously, the position of the sun in the
sky would shift, but wouldn't that screw up GPS?
No, it wouldn't. GPS is based on low-orbit satellites in orbit around the planet. If the Earth's inclination angle shifted, so would everything
orbiting the Earth, especially small, man-made, low-orbit satellites. It is likely that the moon itself, which is a massive high-orbit satellite,
would even shift in response. After all, the polar axis is the axis of the Earth system, which includes any objects orbiting the planet. It
would be possible for something as large and far away as the moon to not be as fully affected by such an inclination shift, but that possibility is
far from a certainty.
But, one might ask, would that also not be noticeable by scientists? That would depend on whether scientists were carefully cataloguing solar
position. At one time in history, when sundials were used to determine time, it would have been easily noticed, but we do not use sundials today. We
use electronic, atomic, and mechanical clocks instead. These would not be affected. I know of no studies that are underway to determine any variations
in solar positioning. Such might well exist, but I do not know of any.
Star positions would be affected, though, which makes me initially doubt the idea of an inclination angle shift... of course, astronomers regularly
adjust telescopes to account for minor shifts in overall position; they are not looking for the planetary inclination angle (which we already know
does shift at times), but rather rely on star positions relative to other stars. We're not talking about a sudden shift, but a slow one over time; a
sudden shift would create all kinds of havoc which we have not seen. Thus, it is completely reasonable to assume that such a slow shift over time
might not be readily noticed by astronomers.
Would such an inclination shift affect the winds? Not directly; the wind is a disturbance in the atmosphere, which is certainly part of the Earth
system. But indirectly might be a different issue... wind (and indeed, all weather) is the result of uneven heating/cooling of the Earth's surface. If
the Earth changes its angle to the sun, even slightly, that could indirectly affect the heating pattern of the Earth, changing the prevailing wind
patterns.
It would also affect the global weather patterns. Now, I am not convinced this is happening... I have stated as much on several threads that claimed
wildly changing weather patterns. However, I cannot deny that this is a belief and not something I can quantify. It may be based in science,
but it is still a belief; the possibility does exist.
What I can quantify is the local climate for my area. I have records going back to 1950 of the temperatures obtained from official weather monitoring
stations, and a pattern has emerged. That pattern shows a definite variance of temperature. Average temperatures, adjusted for annual expected
variations, hit a local minima around 1970 or so. They also seemed to hit a local maxima around 2010-2015 (exact dates are difficult to determine thus
far due to the shorter variations that are superimposed). That gives us a period of 80-90 years of variation. It also indicates that we are not far
from the local maxima, and thus would now be seeing the most pronounced variations occurring.
An increase in the inclination angle of the planet would actually extend the tropical regions somewhat around the equator, which would equate to an
average temperature increase in sub-tropical and temperate regions, while giving a slight decrease in average temperatures at the equator. It would
have a similar but opposite effect at the poles... a slight increase in average temperatures at the polar regions, while also driving some cold
farther toward the temperate regions. This would also likely lead to an increase in storm intensity, because storms are produced by colliding air
masses of different temperatures; the greater the temperature differential between these air masses, the stronger the storms. By bringing more colder
air farther south and more warm tropical air farther north (Northern Hemisphere references), such storms would be expected to show an increase in
intensity and quantity.
In short, this report does have a definite, non-trivial possibility of being accurate. I wouldn't worry about it, though... the planet has been around
a very, very long time and has likely went through several of these cycles. And yet, it is still here, which indicates it will likely also be here for
many more such cycles.
I think we have much more pressing matters to worry about.
TheRedneck