Cycle 23 Sunspots

March 25, 2008 -- The quite sun has perked up a bit. A couple of small sunspots have emerged and the STEREO satellite says there may be more around the bend. They are all mid-latitude sunspot cycle 23 sunspots, which is lengthening the period of cycle 23, now at about 12 years, depending on how you count. Cycle 23 began officially May 1996. We are still waiting for Cycle 24 to start, indicated by the magnetic polarity of the sunspots reversing. The reverse polarity sunspot that showed on January 24, 2008 signalled the start of cycle 24 on January 4th, dissolved within two days after that. Since then, the sunspot polarity has been showing at the old cycle 23. A false start ?

The interesting thing is the quite magnetic field of the sun.
WattsUpWithThat has more on this abrupt changehere. Many scientists don't see this as unusual, but since we don't really know who is to say. It appears from the chart to be as if "the sun switched off' some part of it's magnetic field generator. It's happened before, it's just that when it did, mankind did not have the instruments to measure what happened next. We can only speculate. Now with a wealth of sun observation platforms, maybe the riddle will be solved. Time will tell.

One thing I believe is that the Earth is a very sensitive thermometer to changes in the Sun. Everyone except Al Gore and the IPCC seem to get that point, as the snow pack builds worldwide. When the sun's output decreases, the solar wind decreases, causing an increase in the Galactic cosmic rays hitting Earth. This in turn increases cloudiness and raises the Earth's albedo, reflecting more heat back into deep space. The result, Earth cools off, regardless what AL Gore says. The minimum additive warming effect of the trace gas CO2 will have little or no effect on the cooling Earth. The sun will do what the sun will do, we can only wait, and observe.

Not to worry, the next ice age will be along soon enough -- Just don't toss your old coats out thinking it's all going to be sunshine and warm from now on. Warm is good, cold, not so good. Afterall, where will all the Canadians live when Canada becomes an ice sheet again? Maybe they can buy some of our housing bank repossessions? There is even good in ice ages. This site is chronicling the various events that may be leading us to the next Dalton Minimum, or beyond.

Do the math, for eons the Earth has been about 90% ice age, 10% interglacial warm, like today. Which do you think is 'normal'.