2013-08-03

Sunspots and Global Cooling

Global warming ended in the late 1990s and temperatures stagnated before moving lower in the past few years. If temperature correlates with sunspot activity, we may be near the peak in temperature and headed for a very cold back end of the 2010s.

Here is one paper on the current solar cycle 24 (from 2010):

The incipient cycle 24 will probably mark the end of the Modern Maximum, with the Sun switching to a state of less strong activity. It will therefore be an important testbed for cycle prediction methods and, by inference, for our understanding of the solar dynamo.

How have predictions for a weak solar cycle been panning out?
The current predicted and observed size makes this the smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906.
This solar cycle is shaping up to be even less active than the 1970s.

This is a picture of days above freezing at the Artic circle this year. Green is the average, red line is this year.
Source: Unprecedented July Cold Ends The Arctic’s Shortest Summer On RecordOnly 45 days above freezing this summer, half of a normal summer.

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