Solar Googly

Less solar activity should lead to less warming on Earth, right? Wrong, it seems.

Less solar activity should lead to less warming on Earth, right? Wrong, it seems. Joanna Haigh of Imperial College, London found that in the period from 2004 to 2007, when solar activity decreased, Earth’s temperature increased by 0.05 degrees. This can be explained by the fact that during this waning of the sun, ultraviolet radiation decreased, while the radiation in the visible spectrum increased, leading to the increase in Earth’s temperature. The scientists now postulate that when the sun’s activity increases, it could actually cool Earth. But they acknowledge that the data provides only a snapshot of the sun’s behaviour and doesn’t say anything outside of the three years. What is clear, though, is that we know far less than we think.