How the face of Pluto changed in just two years (do you think they can blame it on global warming?)

Daily Mail
Friday, February 5, 2010

Nasa scientists have been left stunned after detailed images of the surface of Pluto reveal it has dramatically changed colour over just a two-year period.

The Hubble Telescope captured the images, which are the most detailed and dramatic ever taken of the distant dwarf planet.

They revealed that the cosmic body, demoted from full planet status in 2006, is significantly redder than it has been for the past several decades.

The photos show a mottled world with a yellow-orange hut, but astronomers say it is 20 per cent more red than it used to be. At the same time its illuminated northern hemisphere is getting brighter, while the southern hemisphere has darkened.

Changing face: Scientists are baffled after new images of the surface of dwarf planet Pluto show it has become 20 per cent more red.

These changes are most likely consequences of surface ice melting on the sunlit pole and then refreezing on the other pole, as the dwarf planet heads into the next phase of its 248-year-long seasonal cycle.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The Hubble pictures underscore that Pluto is not simply a ball of ice and rock but a dynamic world that undergoes dramatic atmospheric changes.

These are driven by seasonal changes that are as much propelled by the planet’s 248-year elliptical orbit as its axial tilt, unlike Earth where the tilt alone drives seasons.

It suggests that natural cycles alone can cause unexpected and dramatic climate changes on planets. Some scientists argue global warming on Earth is more likely to have been caused by a regular 1,500-year-cycle of warming and cooling than rising carbon dioxide levels.

Full story here.

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