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Why the lack of sun spots when we are suppose to be at a solar maximum is a mystery.
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Fact check time.
We are currently at a
prolonged minimum of
sunspot activity between the end of Cycle 23 and the start of Cycle 24. A nice graph
here shows the decrease in sunspot activity since the last maximum in 2001.
The next cycle is
forecast to be 30% to 50% stronger than the last one and is expected to reach its peak somtime around 2012. The previous cycle (23) was weaker than the previous two (21 and 22). Cycle 24 is forecast to be only slightly stronger than 21 and 22.
Other forecasts predict not much difference between the strength of Cycle 24 and the previous cycle (23).
While some scientists are reluctant to state that there is a direct causal connection between
sunspots and climate (because sunspots have only a small effect on the overall energy output of the sun), it is generally recognized that solar output changes over long periods of time and this does
affect climate.
The
Maunder Minimum from 1645 to 1715 was a period of very low sunspot activity that coincided with the
Little Ice Age. Periods of low sunspot activity coincided with the coldest periods of the Little Ice Age.