AUSTIN, August 16, 2014 – A rare spotless day on the sun on July 17-18, 2014 triggered public speculation that an already stunted Cycle 24 was nearly over. Such is not the case. Defying the odds for so late in a sunspot cycle, another solar sunspot maximum was set last month. Another one is coming this month.
In other major news, a long needed revision to the 400-year sunspot record was proposed. It’ll be the first change made to the sunspot record since it was first established by Rudolf Wolf back in 1849. The changes will affect long-term climate and other dependent scientific studies.
One effect of the proposal will be to reduce modern sunspot totals. That will wipe out the so-called “Modern Maximum” and make the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, the weakest in 200 years.
Cycle 24 solar sunspot progression
New solar maximum set in July. Credit/SILSO data, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels
.....Cycle 24 still remains the weakest solar cycle in 100 years. It’s nowhere near NASA’s forecast peak. Data indicating weak sunspot activity over the next couple cycles remain strong.
....When that change finally arrives, long-term indicators suggest the next sunspot cycle will be much weaker than this one. That could portend a general cooling trend for earth, if history serves as a guide to future behavior.
Extended periods of inactivity – like the Spörer, Maunder and Dalton minimums – were all accompanied by cooler earth temperatures. Conditions today mimic Cycles 3, 4 and 5 which marked the beginning of the Dalton Minimum.
Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/news-2/sunspots-2014-two-big-surprises-24027/#Itdy3JSROtjzOrLU.99
Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/news-2/sunspots-2014-two-big-surprises-24027/#Itdy3JSROtjzOrLU.99
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