Word: sunspots
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...British Antarctic Survey made the startling observation that concentrations of ozone in the stratosphere were dropping at a dramatic rate over Antarctica each austral spring, only to gradually become replenished by the end of November. At first they speculated that the phenomenon might be the result of increased sunspot activity or the unusual weather systems of the Antarctic. It is now widely accepted that winds are partly responsible, but scientists are increasingly convinced that there is a more disturbing factor at work. The culprit: a group of man-made chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used, among other things...
...that the "hole did not signify an ozone loss at all, just a breakdown in the distribution system." An interruption in the movement of air from the tropics, where most ozone is created, to the poles could easily result in less ozone reaching the Antarctic. Another theory: perhaps the sunspot activity that peaked around 1980 created more ozone- destroying nitrogen radicals than usual, which would be activated each spring by sunlight...
Ironically, despite NASA'S concentration on solar research with Skylab, the agency's failure to anticipate the extent of sunspot activity during the vehicle's years in orbit contributed substantially to the craft's death. Russian scientists as well as America's own National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted considerable solar disturbances, including great magnetic storms and solar flares. When they erupted in 1977 and 1978, they warmed the gases in the earth's outer atmosphere, increasing the drag on Skylab. Never fully powered because of its lost solar wing and failing batteries, the craft began to slip ever...
Perhaps so. But such assurances did not ease NASA'S embarrassment over the whole Skylab affair, which arose because of a scientific error about the extent of sunspot activity in the late 1970s and its effect on Skylab. By spewing out clouds of charged particles, these great solar magnetic storms help heat up and expand the earth's upper atmosphere. That creates more drag for objects in orbit, hastening their reentry. Confronted by a falling Skylab, NASA last spring began developing the $26 million booster engine. But it was clear, especially after troubles with the shuttle...
...contrast with these high-flying Soviet space efforts, NASA is still struggling to save the unoccupied Skylab space station from plunging prematurely to earth. Late last year, Skylab began to show a dangerous loss of altitude, a byproduct of atmospheric effects caused by unexpectedly strong sunspot activity during the current solar cycle. Skylab's descent is being hastened by its wobbling motion, which increases friction as the ship moves through stray molecules of atmosphere in its path. Ground controllers twice tried unsuccessfully to stabilize the craft, hoping to keep it aloft at least until...