Space Weather News for May 22, 2025
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TREES REMEMBER AN ICE AGE SOLAR STORM: More than 14 thousand years ago, there was a solar storm so big, trees still remember it. Dwarfing modern solar storms, the event would devastate technology if it happened again today. Spoiler alert: It could.

Full story @ Spaceweather.com (https://spaceweather.com) .

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TREES REMEMBER AN ICE AGE SOLAR STORM: More than 14 thousand years ago, there

>was a solar storm so big, trees still remember it. Dwarfing modern solar
>storms, the event would devastate technology if it happened again today.
>Spoiler alert: It could.

Are there some 14,000 year old trees still around? B)

Apparently you can go diving in Georgian Bay and find some Petrified
trees about 75 feet under water from back when, at the end of that
last ice age, the moving glaciers had left a huge 'dam' of rock and
soil behind for many decades and forests grew and then the dam broke
down and the water level came up about 75 feet.

The Natives have a story they tell about a giant Beaver who built
the dam and some oher critter, maybe a fox, that knocked it down.

And, technically we are overdue for a new ice age so this Global
Warming, no matter what you care to blame it on, might be a bit
of a life saver for us (literally)..

---
* SLMR Rob * Computers run on smoke.. If it leaks out, it won't work
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TREES REMEMBER AN ICE AGE SOLAR STORM: More than 14 thousand years ago, there

>was a solar storm so big, trees still remember it. Dwarfing modern solar
>storms, the event would devastate technology if it happened again today.
>Spoiler alert: It could.

Are there some 14,000 year old trees still around? B)

LOL I don't remember exactly what the story at the link indicated, but I
got the impression that it was "remains" of trees that were being looked
at. ;)

Apparently you can go diving in Georgian Bay and find some Petrified
trees about 75 feet under water from back when, at the end of that
last ice age, the moving glaciers had left a huge 'dam' of rock and
soil behind for many decades and forests grew and then the dam broke
down and the water level came up about 75 feet.

The Natives have a story they tell about a giant Beaver who built
the dam and some oher critter, maybe a fox, that knocked it down.

There are some interesting things about the Great Lakes during the Ice Ages that I have picked up over the years. The Lake we now call Huron used to
have two outlets to the south... one may have been on the Bay there.
During or after one of the Ice Ages, the easternmost outlet got cut off or plugged up. This, in turn, caused the Mackinaw River to flood, which
caused the ~100-ft waterfall where it emptied into Huron to disappear under water and forming the Straights that we know today.

I wish I remembered more about that. I trot that one out whenever anyone
tries to claim there are "only four" Great Lakes. ;)

And, technically we are overdue for a new ice age so this Global
Warming, no matter what you care to blame it on, might be a bit
of a life saver for us (literally)..

That is quite true. We never know what the alternative would be, but
assuming that the alternative is whatever we think "normal" is would be
very short-sighted... and probably make for some interesting science
fiction.

Mike


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There are some interesting things about the Great Lakes during the Ice Ages

>that I have picked up over the years. The Lake we now call Huron used to
>have two outlets to the south... one may have been on the Bay there.
>During or after one of the Ice Ages, the easternmost outlet got cut off or
>plugged up. This, in turn, caused the Mackinaw River to flood, which
>caused the ~100-ft waterfall where it emptied into Huron to disappear under
>water and forming the Straights that we know today.

I wish I remembered more about that. I trot that one out whenever anyone

>tries to claim there are "only four" Great Lakes. ;)

I was looking for something on that and found that 10,500 years ago
during the ice there were 2 huge lakes in this area, Lake Duluth
and Lake Algonquin (were there people who named them back then??)
and they were somewhat torn apart as the ice receded and eventually
became what we know today.. Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron..

There was another big one called Lake Iroquois that got a lot smaller
and became the widest part of the St. Lawerence too. And back just
after the ice started receding, those lakes drained North, not South,
because the thicker ice further North had compacted the earth more
so it was down hill in that direction for a few thousand years..

And, technically we are overdue for a new ice age so this Global

>> Warming, no matter what you care to blame it on, might be a bit
>> of a life saver for us (literally)..

That is quite true. We never know what the alternative would be, but

>assuming that the alternative is whatever we think "normal" is would be
>very short-sighted... and probably make for some interesting science
>fiction.

Yes, and in general, these sorts of things don't happen on a schedule
and other events will mostly just make the warming or cooling happen
a little sooner or later than estimated, but in the calendar of the
world, a 'little late' could be a few thousand years..

But, as I've mentioned before, they know that the world has had
twice as many years with no polar ice caps at all than with them
so assuming we are getting unusually warm right now may not be
tchnically correct. We just have gottn used to the Cold..
(As Canadians, that's something we understand..) B)

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But, as I've mentioned before, they know that the world has had
twice as many years with no polar ice caps at all than with them
so assuming we are getting unusually warm right now may not be
tchnically correct. We just have gottn used to the Cold..
(As Canadians, that's something we understand..) B)

I watched a show once where a scientist talked about how warm the climate
used to be "up north/down south"... how there were at various times
dinosaurs and also lush forests. The conclusion is that the warming and cooling cycles are normal *but* that human activity has accelerated the transition process between the two. So, a cycle that might take 50,000
years (just an example) might now only take 5,000.

The conclusions presented were a lot easier to believe than "it is all
caused by us" and "none of it is caused by us." ;)


Mike

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I watched a show once where a scientist talked about how warm the climate

>used to be "up north/down south"... how there were at various times
>dinosaurs and also lush forests. The conclusion is that the warming and
>cooling cycles are normal *but* that human activity has accelerated the
>transition process between the two. So, a cycle that might take 50,000
>years (just an example) might now only take 5,000.

The conclusions presented were a lot easier to believe than "it is all

>caused by us" and "none of it is caused by us." ;)

Yes, we probably do have some effect on these things, although maybe
not quite to the extreme as in your 'example'.. B)

I often tell people who really want to learn more about this to
read a book by Michael Crichton called State of Fear which is an
entertaining Eco-terrorist action book but it has a Huge amount of
Real science in it with credits given to the papers written by
actual scientists where the data was taken from. It does point
out the tiny difference we make to Carbon levels and how a single
volcanic eruption can do more amage than we do in years and such.

I'm sure I have that eBook here somewhere.. I have the paper version
as well..
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* SLMR Rob * So many pedestrians, so little time...
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