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Sunspots May Be Different During This Solar Minimum
PhreakOfTime writes "According to Bill Livingston and Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, sunspot magnetic fields are waning. The two respected solar astronomers have been measuring solar magnetism since 1992. Their technique is based on Zeeman splitting of infrared spectral lines in radiation emitted by iron atoms in the vicinity of sunspots. Extrapolating their data (PDF) into the future suggests that sunspots could completely disappear within decades." To motivate their interest the researchers mention the Maunder Minimum, which occurred beginning in 1645 and coincided with the coldest part of the so-called "Little Ice Age." Sunspot counts during this period were as low as 1/1,000 of the numbers seen in modern times.
Actually, in the last decade, we have NOT had a temperature spike. Over the last 10 or so years of little solar activity, the global mean temperature has actually declined slightly. During the previous period of very high solar activity, temperatures rose. Seems too soon for a clear cause and effect, but certainly enough to investigate further.
I knew global warming zealots were poor students of science, math, and history, but I did think they were better at paying attention to CURRENT data than this...