A few years back there was an article on Space.com on solar observations that proved to be quite informative. It turns out that we have been making detailed scientific observations of the Sun for well over 100 years and have observations from Chinese monks and the like that go back over a thousand years.
By observing the currents on the Sun we can predict the severity of the sunspot cycles almost 20 years in advance. And the most recent observations showed the currents to be The Lowest Level Ever Recorded.
I mentioned the article to guy with a Phd in Astronomy I worked with at the time and he said “Fewer sunspots mean less solar energy.” Really! The article did not mention that – it was about sunspots and that was all. And I found from other sources that is known to be true, without doubt. The “Little Ice Age” of the late 1600’s to mid 1800’s is known to have been accompanied by a marked reduction in sunspot activity.
Put 2 and 2 together and you get…. Well, it’s pretty obvious.
Well, after years as an engineer, program manager, and head of advanced planning for an output that has the name “Cape” in its title, I am now a researcher, someone who gathers data, organizes it, and figures out what it means. I got that job because I had access to info that no one else did and I knew where to go get more. This has given me a certain reputation; I recently finished a bit of research for NASA that had nothing to do with my original field of expertise.
But as Terry points out, no one seems to have done the research on solar impacts on Earth temperature, even though a variety of different scientific sources have the data and are not trying to cover it up. Curious…
