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4. Energy Budgets
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Sunspots
are magnetic storms that are dark, cooler areas on the sun's surface,
with the number and size of sunspots having a cyclical pattern reaching
a maximum every 11, 90 and 180 years. In the early 1980s there was an
observed decrease in solar energy which corresponded with a period of
maximum sunspot activity based on the 11 year cycle. Additionally, a solar
telescope from 1976 to 1980 showed that during this period, as the number
and size of sunspots increased, the sun's surface cooled by about 6 degrees
Celsius as the sunspots prevented some of the sun's energy from leaving
its surface. However, this evidence has been contradicted by findings
from the Little Ice Age (1650 to 1750), where there was little sunspot
activity on the sun's surface, but a much cooler global climate.
Sunspots have been linked to climate change
Sunspots
are magnetic storms that are dark, cooler areas on the sun's surface,
with the number and size of sunspots having a cyclical pattern reaching
a maximum every 11, 90 and 180 years. In the early 1980s there was an
observed decrease in solar energy which corresponded with a period of
maximum sunspot activity based on the 11 year cycle. Additionally, a solar
telescope from 1976 to 1980 showed that during this period, as the number
and size of sunspots increased, the sun's surface cooled by about 6 degrees
Celsius as the sunspots prevented some of the sun's energy from leaving
its surface. However, this evidence has been contradicted by findings
from the Little Ice Age (1650 to 1750), where there was little sunspot
activity on the sun's surface, but a much cooler global climate.
What are sunspots and how do they affect the global climate?