Sun Spots

Montana State University June 9, 2008

The International solar conference was held June 1-6 at Montana State University. Approximately 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America gathered to talk about "Solar Variability, Earth's Climate and the Space Environment."

The scientists said periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, but this period has gone on longer than usual. Today's sun, however, is as inactive as it was two years ago, and scientists aren't sure why.

In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period coincided with a little ice age on Earth that lasted from 1650 to 1700.

See also Science Daily June 9, 2008

Maunder Minimum - NASA

From the Goddard Flight Center
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17460

This article has some issues, but look at the core point of admitting that the Maunder Minimum dropped temperatures.

From 1650 to 1710, temperatures across much of the Northern Hemisphere plunged when the Sun entered a quiet phase now called the Maunder Minimum. During this period, very few sunspots appeared on the surface of the Sun, and the overall brightness of the Sun decreased slightly.

NAO was more negative on average during the Maunder Minimum, and Europe remained unusually cold. These results matched the paleoclimate record.

Stopping Climate Tax Bill

June 6, 2008 Senator Inhofe

“Already facing skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, in our homes, and at the grocery store, Oklahomans are rightfully asking why the U.S. Senate spent the past week debating legislation that would push costs even higher,” Senator Inhofe said. “Unfortunately, many Washington, D.C. politicians believe that the best way to approach any issue is to raise taxes, regulate more, and increase the size of the federal bureaucracy.

This legislation would have been the largest tax increase in history, the largest expansion of government in over 70 years and the largest pork bill. Yet, as the Environmental Protection Agency analysis shows, the so-called “solution” would result in substantial economic harm for no climate gain.

2008 Cooler than 2007

UAH Satellite data: 2008 significantly cooler than last year

Watts up with That

Skeptics Global Warming

Sun spots - cooling

Planet Daily 6.1.08

Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest solar cycle of the past two centuries. They say this will likely lead to unusually cool conditions on Earth. It is also predicted that this cool period will go much longer than the normal 11 year cycle, as the Little Ice Age did. The climate threat is actually cooling, especially to countries like Canada.