Angin Ribut, Taufan akan Datang!!

Bila dengar pasal ribut taufan pasti meremang bulu roma kan! Tapi yang ini lagi teruk dan lebih menakutkan daripada apa yang kita fikirkan! Tadi saya sempat membuka laman web rasmi NASA dan ternampak sebuat artikel terbaru yang diterbitkan oleh sekumpulan pengkaji dari National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), diketuai oleh Mausumi Dikpati. Mereka mengatakan satu ribut taufan yang amat besar yang dipanggil "the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt" bakal menyerang bumi pada sekitar tahun 2010 atau 2011!! Pernah tak korang menonton cerita "The Day After Tomorrow"?? Apa yang berlaku dalam cerita itu BAKAL menjadi realiti! Untuk pengetahuan anda semua...cerita tersebut SEBENARNYA diadaptasikan daripada kajian yang dibuat oleh Dikpati! Huhu...seramm tak??!

EARTH'S GREAT OCEAN CONVEYOR BELT

Berikut adalah sebahagian dari petikan artikel NASA:

"The top of the conveyor belt skims the surface of the sun, sweeping up the magnetic fields of old, dead sunspots. The 'corpses' are dragged down at the poles to a depth of 200,000 km where the sun's magnetic dynamo can amplify them. Once the corpses (magnetic knots) are reincarnated (amplified), they become buoyant and float back to the surface." Presto--new sunspots!

All this happens with massive slowness. "It takes about 40 years for the belt to complete one loop," says Hathaway. The speed varies "anywhere from a 50-year pace (slow) to a 30-year pace (fast)."

When the belt is turning "fast," it means that lots of magnetic fields are being swept up, and that a future sunspot cycle is going to be intense. This is a basis for forecasting: "The belt was turning fast in 1986-1996," says Hathaway. "Old magnetic fields swept up then should re-appear as big sunspots in 2010-2011."

Like most experts in the field, Hathaway has confidence in the conveyor belt model and agrees with Dikpati that the next solar maximum should be a doozy. But he disagrees with one point. Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.

"History shows that big sunspot cycles 'ramp up' faster than small ones," he says. "I expect to see the first sunspots of the next cycle appear in late 2006 or 2007--and Solar Max to be underway by 2010 or 2011."

SUN'S GREAT CONVEYOR BELT

Jadi, sape yang betul?? Hanya masa dapat menentukan. Apapun...ribut taufan akan melanda.

Be Prepare!