“Naked Science” program to address issues related to sun
Professor Yemane Asmerom and his research on issues related to the sun will broadcast on the National Geographic Channel (NGC) as part of the program titled, ‘Naked Science: Solar Force’ on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. Mountain. The show will repeat Thursday, Nov. 1 at 9 p.m. Mountain.
Photo: Professor Yemane Asmerom stands next to a thermal ionization mass spectrometer. Asmerom and his research group will be featured on National Geographic Channel.
The program will address various issue related to the sun. The NGC crew filmed locally at UNM in Asmerom’s lab, in Carlsbad and also Chaco Canyon. The suns energy seems to be constant, but this gigantic nuclear reactor is in a continual state of flux. NGC reveals the latest scientific information that is uncovering the hidden ways that fluctuations in the suns output influence our climate.
Asmerom’s research group, which includes including Victor Polyak and Jessica Rasmussen from UNM, and Stephen Burns from the University of Massachusetts, will contribute information on solar forcing of climate and the relationship of climate and culture. The group has studied Holocene climate change and specifically the role of the sun on climate.
In an article published in Geology earlier this year and titled ‘Solar Forcing of Holocene Climate: New insights from a speleothem record Southwestern United States,’ Asmerom’s research group presents the first high-resolution complete Holocene climate record for the North American monsoon region of the southwestern United States (southwest) in order to address the nature and causes of Holocene climate change.
Their research shows that periods of increased solar radiation correlate with decreased rainfall, the opposite to that observed in the Asian monsoon, and suggest that a solar link to Holocene climate is through changes in the Walker circulation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation systems of the tropical Pacific Ocean.
Given the link between increased warming and aridity in the southwest, the group believes additional warming due to greenhouse forcing could potentially lead to persistent hyper-arid conditions, similar to those seen in our record during periods of high solar activity.
For more information on Asmerom’s research visit: Yemane Asmerom.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu