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Monday 18 July 2016

Phew what a scorcher

“I read somewhere that the sun’s getting hotter every year,” said Tom genially. “It seems that pretty soon the earth’s going to fall into the sun — or wait a minute — it’s just the opposite — the sun’s getting colder every year.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (1925)

4 comments:

Sam Vega said...

It's fairly obvious that the sun is moving away from us at a rapid speed, while simultaneously growing in size. Global warming occurs when its growth increases faster than its sped away from us, or sometimes when the speed remains constant but it has a bit of a "growth spurt".

A K Haart said...

Sam - I agree, and soon we should be able to see right through an increasingly attenuated sun.

Demetrius said...

I suspect for most of us the question is purely academic.

A K Haart said...

Demetrius - yes, life is generally too short for these things to matter.