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2 Jul 08 - Clouds usually seen above Earth's poles now
being seen over western France.
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| This image shows one of the
first ground sightings of noctilucent clouds in the 2007
season. Credit: Veres Viktor of Budapest, Hungary taken on
June 15, 2007. |
In the early morning hours of June 30th, ghostly
noctilucent clouds hovered in the over western France. The night-shining
clouds lie near the edge of space, reflecting sunlight from about 80 km
above the earth. Usually spotted above the poles in summer, they are now
seen with increasing frequency farther from the poles, in this case
extending to about 48 degrees north. The trend could be a telltale sign
of global changes in the atmosphere.
Very little is known about how these
clouds form over the poles, why they are being seen more frequently and
at lower latitudes than ever before, or why they have been growing
brighter. They appear to be a relatively recent phenomenon—they were
first reported in 1885, shortly after the eruption of Krakatoa—and it
has been suggested that they may be related to climate change.
I think, of course, that they’re related to an impending
ice age.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aim/multimedia/first_view.html
Thanks to Clay Olson for this link
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