Updated: 07/08/2009 9:35 AM KSTP.com | Print Story
By: Dave Dahl

Many scientists have been looking for the reason behind our recent global cooling.  What they've discovered might be just the beginning of much cooler weather ahead.

NASA put out a statement at the beginning of this month, which explains a lot when it comes to chilly conditions over the Northern Hemisphere the last two winters.  They stated that the sun in 2008 had the fewest sunspots in nearly a century.  In 2008 there were 266 days when the sun was "spotless".  To find a year with more blank suns you have to go back to 1913 when there were 311 days without sunspots.  Even more remarkable is the lack of sunspots so far in 2009.  We've had over 85 days with a spotless sun so far, which is an even lower rate than was experienced in 2008!

So you're probably asking yourself what this has to do with the climate here on earth.  Let's just say A LOT!  Since the sun is our main energy source, small changes on the sun have big effects here on earth.  When the sun is "spotless" it means there have been fewer solar flares.  Fewer solar flares means less energy spewing toward earth, which many believe means cooler temperatures here on earth as well.  The connection however is not very clear.   

Let's just look back at a few of the years when the sun was also quiet to see what that connection might be.  Let's take 1913 for example.  The annual temperature that year was still slightly above the average.  1912 was also a very quiet solar year with only slightly greater activity than what was experienced last year.  The annual average temperature that year was nearly 2 degrees below normal.  The greatest period of low sunspot activity was from 1645 to 1715.  It became known as the Maunder Minimum named after the astronomer Edward Maunder who studied sunspots extensively.  That quiet period in sunspot activity also happened to correspond to the "Little Ice Age".  This was a period of years that had extremely cold winters and cool summers especially in Europe but also in North America.