A bill has been introduced in the House to study the "Stockman Effect," which stipulates that changes in Earth's magnetic field could impact global temperature. But no record of a Stockman Effect exists in scientific literature, since, it seems, the term was invented by the bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX).


Even by congressional standards, it requires a unique level of hubris to name a scientific theory after oneself. But this is Stockman's last term in office, and the National Journal speculates that he is trying to cement his legacy, since — unlike legislators such as Sam Rayburn and John McCain — he never got a building or a law bearing his name.

The Stockman Effect Act calls upon the director of the National Science Foundation to commission a study on the extent to which changes in the weather can be attributed to natural shifts in the Earth's magnetic fields, noting that, "There is a possibility that the reason Mars lost its atmosphere was because of the loss of its magnetic field."


As the National Journal reports: