Corona

No, not the virus! Corona is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere, consisting of plasma (hot ionized gas). It has a temperature of approximately two million kelvins and an extremely low density. Corona continually varies in size and shape as it is affected by the Sun's magnetic field. (worth watching https://youtu.be/Ll4w6r97KqI)

About 80 years ago, scientists found that the temperature of the solar corona is actually much hotter than the surface, at a few million degrees Celsius. The high temperatures of the corona cause it to expand into space as a continuous outflow of plasma called the solar wind.

Over the past 2 million years, climate has oscillated between periods of warm climate (glacials) and periods of cooler climate (interglacials). Changes in the shape of earth's orbit help explain these changes. These are known as 'Milankovitch cycles'.

Milankovitch cycles describe the collective effects of changes in the Earth's movements on its climate over thousands of years. The term is named for Serbian geophysicist and astronomer Milutin Milankovi?.

A Milankovitch cycle is a cyclical movement related to the Earth's orbit around the Sun. According to the Milankovitch Theory, three cycles (1. The shape of Earth's orbit, known as eccentricity; 2. The angle Earth's axis is tilted with respect to Earth's orbital plane, known as obliquity; and 3.The direction Earth's axis of rotation is pointed, known as precession) combine to affect the amount of solar heat that's incident on the Earth's surface and subsequently influence climatic patterns.

If there were no human influences on climate, scientists say Earth's current orbital positions within the Milankovitch cycles predict our planet should be cooling, not warming, continuing a long-term cooling trend that began 6,000 years ago.

Each time the sunspot count rises and falls, the magnetic field of the Sun associated with sunspots reverses polarity; the orientation of magnetic fields in the Sun's northern and southern hemispheres switch. This solar cycle is, on average, about 22 years long - twice the duration of the sunspot cycle.

The Sun's magnetic field goes through a cycle, called the solar cycle. Every 11 years or so, the Sun's magnetic field completely flips. This means that the Sun's north and south poles switch places. Then it takes about another 11 years for the Sun's north and south poles to flip back again.

The Sun rotates on its axis once in about 27 days. This rotation was first detected by observing the motion of sunspots. Since the Sun is a ball of gas/plasma, it does not have to rotate rigidly like the solid planets and moons do.

This causes the location of Earth's magnetic north and south poles to gradually shift, and to even completely flip locations every 300,000 years or so. Thus, scientists agree that the solar cycle and its associated short-term changes in irradiance cannot be the main force driving the changes in Earth's climate we are currently seeing.

Global climate change has typically occurred very slowly, over thousands or millions of years. Our restless Earth is always changing. Tectonic plates drift, the crust quakes, and volcanoes erupt. air pressure falls, storms form, and precipitation results. Each experience in a changing Earth provides insights into repercussions that may result from our responses to changes natural or manmade…

Food for thought!