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Paleoclimate
What else has caused past climate changes?
Intensity of the Sun
The Earth's climate is very dependent on the amount of solar radiation it receives. This incoming radiation has varied throughout the Earth's history, resulting in changes in climate. Although the sun has been more active since about 1940, the global temperature change due to the highest levels of activity would be less than 0.1 Kelvin (or about 0.1C).
The graph to the right is a comparison of sunspot activity (orange) with CO2 measurements taken at Law Dome in Antarctica (cyan) and Mauna Loa in Hawaii (blue) and with changes in global surface temperature.
The plot to the left shows the annual mean sunspot number since 1749 to the present. The sunspot number counts the total number of sunspots and sunspot groups that come and go over a solar cycle.
Courtesy P.S. McIntosh, NOAA/SEL.
Learn more about solar variability and its effect on climate, and what we know about sunspot history at these links.
Next page -> other causes, continued
Links and resources
What else has caused past climate changes?
Intensity of the Sun
The Earth's climate is very dependent on the amount of solar radiation it receives. This incoming radiation has varied throughout the Earth's history, resulting in changes in climate. Although the sun has been more active since about 1940, the global temperature change due to the highest levels of activity would be less than 0.1 Kelvin (or about 0.1C).
The graph to the right is a comparison of sunspot activity (orange) with CO2 measurements taken at Law Dome in Antarctica (cyan) and Mauna Loa in Hawaii (blue) and with changes in global surface temperature.
The plot to the left shows the annual mean sunspot number since 1749 to the present. The sunspot number counts the total number of sunspots and sunspot groups that come and go over a solar cycle.
Courtesy P.S. McIntosh, NOAA/SEL.
Learn more about solar variability and its effect on climate, and what we know about sunspot history at these links.
Next page -> other causes, continued
Links and resources
