solar (Page 10)

The solar cycle usually works like this: Every 11 years there is a period of intense solar activity. But the sun has been unusually quiet for years now. However, scientists have obtained evidence that a new cycle of solar activity is starting. The onset of a new wave of such activity had been expected to be well underway by 2009, but the Sun remained surprisingly quiet. Now, in 2010 there are finally signs of the cycle re-appearing. Researcher Steve Smith says, “It’s exciting to see the return of aurora to mid-latitudes,” referring to the periodic occurrence of emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere that have intrigued observers from ancient to modern times.
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Will global warming continue in 2010? After a protracted quiet spell, the sun is waking up. So far, Solar Cycle 24 has been the quietest in a century, but December was the most active month of the cycle by far. The 11 year solar maximum should peak in late 2012, but with such a long, deep solar minimum, the peak could be delayed. There is evidence that solar activity and planetary weather are related, but also studies that show no connection. At present, earth is experiencing a mini cooling cycle related to the upwelling of cold water in the Pacific Ocean. Will the return of a high level of solar activity, if this happens, also mean that earth’s climate will change? Over the next twelve months, we could find out.
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It’s the solar WIND – You’ve heard the complaint that “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Well, the same thing can be said about the sun: New research finds that the number of sunspots provides an incomplete measure of the sun’s impact on global warming over its 11-year solar cycle. Earth was bombarded last year with high levels of solar energy at a time when the Sun was in an unusually quiet phase and sunspots had virtually disappeared. But there was LOTS of solar wind.

Researcher Sarah Gibson says, “The sun continues to surprise us. The solar wind can hit Earth like a fire hose even when there are virtually no sunspots.”
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UPDATE – The huge sunspot formation that emerged on July4 has begun subsiding, and alarmist predictionsthat the sun would “blow up” or emit some sort of giganticflare toward the earth have proved–not unexpectedly–unfounded.

However, one thing is clear: the new solar max does appearto be intensifying after a long period of quiescence, andthe sudden emergence of the huge sunspot did indeed startlesolar scientists.

Spaceweather.com was inundated with emails about thepossibility of a large flare coming out of Sunspot 1024, andhad this to say in response:
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