A new report from the Global Warming Policy Foundation reveals that the solar influence on climate is much larger than is generally recognized.
The report, by Professor Henrik Svensmark of the Danish National Space Institute, outlines some of the remarkable correlations between solar activity and past climate changes.
It also shows that the output of the Sun alone – the so-called total solar irradiance – cannot explain them.
“Changes in total solar irradiance are actually quite small,” says Professor Svensmark. “They would have to be nearly 10 times larger to explain how the oceans warm and cool over the 11-year solar cycle.”
New research suggests that other mechanisms can amplify the effect of solar activity. The New report reviews the possible candidates, concluding that the most likely of these is the effects of galactic cosmic rays on cloud formation.
This idea is plausible in theory and has received substantial empirical support in recent years.
However, Professor Svensmark says that insufficient attention is being paid to this research area:
“Galactic cosmic rays seem to be very important drivers of the Earth’s climate. But they are mostly being ignored at the moment because they are seen as distracting from conventional global warming research. Science needs to do better if we want to make progress in understanding the actual impact of natural factors of climate change.”
Henrik Svensmark: Force Majeure – The Sun’s Role In Climate Change (PDF)
About the author
Prof Henrik Svensmark is a physicist and a senior researcher in the Astrophysics and Atmospheric Physics Division of the National Space Institute (DTU Space) in Lyngby, Denmark. Svensmark presently leads the Sun-Climate Research group at DTU Space.
Contact:
Professor Henrik Svensmark
email: hsv@space.dtu.dk
It is typical for climate activists to ignore any data that doesn’t support their cause.
I’m sure it is true that some other factors beyond changing solar radiation have to be involved. The imperial data supports a strong correction. In true since the next step would be investigate how the sun is having such an impact.
Who but “climate scientists” who are vested in CO2-driven climate change are shocked that the yellow globe in the sky has a big influence in our climate? One needs to look no further than the changing seasons to see how the sun influences our climate based on the angle of the planet in relations to the sun. And to see the cycles that we have of warming climate and cooling climate based on cycles in the sun spot activity.