return to
Creating an
Earth System II

Creating an Earth System II:

The Greenhouse Effect

3. What Is the Solar Impact on Climate Change (if any?!)

1. Does climate change (i.e. global warming or cooling) correspond in time to changes in some solar cycle?

If so, is the climate change actually caused by the solar changes?

Most likely candidate: Sunspots (w/ maximum in x-ray and UV)?

A visible light image and an X-ray image of sun spots.
High times of solar activity occur every 22 years (11 years to maximum and 11 back to minimum). There is a measurable change in solar radiation due to changes in the number of sunspots. But a change that takes place in only 11 years is not a realistic explanation for the spikes that we see in global climate changes.

2. Is this really long-term climate change?!

We’ve been observing the sun for centuries (at most), and only for a few decades with high-technology equipment. Geologists generally don’t consider change over a decade or two to be climate change.

Return to Page 2

Return to Page 1


Return to: Creating an Earth System II | Dynamic Earth Homepage | UCMP Homepege