Ticker for January 10, 2007

                
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January 10, 2007   January 10, 2007   January 10, 2007   January 10, 2007



Moderation By Orbitation

As we await the next episode of a series of Arctic blasts, one tidbit
to consider: during early January, the Earth is closer to the Sun than
it will be at any time this year. In fact, the current shape of Earth's
elliptical orbit - closest in January, farthest in July - adds a tiny bit
of moderation to the northern hemisphere's summers and winters. So, if it
gets really cold this weekend, perhaps we can all take comfort that it
isn't quite as cold as it could be.

On the other hand, the fact that the vast majority of earth's land
surface lies north of the equator swings our hemisphere's annual cycle
back towards extremism, so maybe we aren't so lucky after all.