A new study brings forth some interesting results amid the recent solar downturn and global climate change. During the past seven years (2002-2009) the planet’s temperature has been neutral to slightly cooler. A recent news story on the record warm oceans of July 2009 does suggest at least a temporary interruption in this trend, but the seven-year average shows no warming.
During this same time, the sun’s energy has dialed down ever so slightly. The decreasing solar irradiance has (apparently) offset much (claimed anthropogenic) warming of Earth's surface.
That's what researchers Judith Lean (NRL) and David Rind (NASA/GISS) say. They just published a new investigation on global temperatures in the Geophysical Research Letters, a highly respected and peer-reviewed scientific publication.
Lean and Rind considered four influences on climate change:
1) solar activity (lowest now since 1913)
2) volcanic eruptions
3) ENSO (El Nino)
4) The accumulation of greenhouse gases.
The graph below shows an estimation of how much each has contributed to the changing temperature of Earth's surface since 1980:
Source Link:
examiner.com