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Name: Geoffrey
Status: educator
Grade: other
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1/25/2005
Question:
I have long suspected that the jet stream is affected by solar activity i.e. deflected. I have been unable to find a reference to this suspicion.

Replies:
Geoffrey,

I know of no evidence indicating that the jet stream is directly affected by solar activity.

Solar activity can affect the amount of energy received at the top of the atmosphere, and be absorbed by water vapor, aerosols, etc. in the atmosphere, but it is the release of heat and water vapor from the Earth's surface and the rotation of the Earth itself that determine weather patterns, including the location and strength of jet streams.

David R. Cook
Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Section
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory

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