The Sun is a burning ball of mostly gaseous hydrogen with a surface temperature of 6000 degrees centigrade, large enough to hold a million Earths. The importance of the sun rests on the fact that it warms the surface of an otherwise cold and lifeless earth and makes possible the existence of life on this planet. The remarkable aspect of the sun's energy is that it reaches Earth at just the right level to sustain human needs. If the earth were a little distance closer to the sun, the water in the oceans would boil off, and if the earth were a little further away from the sun, all water would remain frozen. Another remarkable feature is the energy reaching Earth through 93 million miles of emptiness, when vacuum does not usually transmit heat.The sun has powered almost everything on earth since life began, and the fact that the sun plays a critical part in the earth's climate system is indisputable. The very word climate derives from the Greek word "klimat", meaning inclination or latitude, and the earliest scientific speculations on the different climates based only how sunlight falls on the different places of the earth. When renaissance scientists began to ponder the possibility of climate change, their thoughts naturally turned to the Sun. Early modern scientists found it plausible that the Sun could not burn forever, and speculated about a slow deterioration of the Earth's climate as the fuel ran out. Later research revealed that the sun has an annual and seasonal impact on the climate, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Developments in technology enabled scientists to conclude that the climate of the earth depends on the delicate balance between incoming solar radiation, outgoing thermal radiation, and the composition of Earth's atmosphere, with even small changes in these parameters affecting climate.
[...] Cosmic rays are the main source of ionization in the Earth's atmosphere, and have an influence on cloud formation. A higher solar activity usually results in lower cosmic ray flux and hence reduced low clouds cover. A greater number of low clouds form when a greater number of cosmic rays reach the earth's atmosphere. Clouds form when water vapor condenses on the nuclei formed by aerosol particles. In 1975 C.E., Robert Dickinson of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, concluded that electrical charges that cosmic rays brought into the atmosphere somehow affected how aerosol particles coalesced, and thereby affected cloud formation. [...]
[...] The Sun and Sunspots: Can an increase or decrease in sunspot activity affect the Earth's climate? Retrieved on May from http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/astro/sunspots.php Plataforma SINC (2008, July 18). Sun Could Cause 15% To 20% Of Effects Of Climate Change, Researcher Says. Science Daily. Retrieved May from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2008/07/080717224333.htm Solanki, Sami Krivova, Natalie, A. (2003). Can Solar Variability Explain Global Warming Since 1970? Journal of Geophysical Research Solar Activity during the onset of Solar Cycle 24 (2009, January 3). Retrieved from http://fabiusmaximus.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/sun-3/ Sun's effect on Earth's Weather (Wind), Windows to the Universe, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). [...]
[...] Retrieved on 2009-05-26, from http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article5131.html Does the Sun affect climate?. Retrieved May from http://www.mps.mpg.de/projects/sun-climate/se_body.html Earth Observatory, NASA. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SORCE/. Retrieved on May Ilya, G. Usoskin, Solanki, Sami, K.; Schussler, Manfred; Mursula, Kalevi; Alanko, Katja. (2003). A Millennium Scale Sunspot Reconstruction: Evidence For an Unusually Active Sun Since the 1940's. Physical Review Letters 91, 211101-1--211101-4 Krivova N.A., Solanki S.K. (2004). Solar Variability and Global Warming: A Statistical Comparison Since 1850 Adv. Space Res 361-364 Lean, Judith, and Rind, David. (Winter 1996). Consequences 2(1). [...]
[...] He concludes that period of increased activity in the sun's magnetic field leads to positive Southern Oscillation Index fluctuations, thereby indicating higher rainfall. A sustained negative value in the Southern Oscillation Index, on the other hand, indicates an El Nino episode, associated with drought and warmer weather in eastern and northern Australia. Baker's hypothesis of the relationship of solar cycles to climate patterns raises the potential for a more accurate forecasting of weather. However, other researchers opine that linking solar cycles to rainfall in a specific location is an oversimplification. [...]
[...] Developments in technology enabled scientists to conclude that the climate of the earth depends on the delicate balance between incoming solar radiation, outgoing thermal radiation, and the composition of Earth's atmosphere, with even small changes in these parameters affecting climate. The energy from the sun's rays warms the otherwise uninhabitable earth's surface from -250 degrees centigrade to -18 degree centigrade. Around 30 percent of the solar energy that penetrates into the atmosphere encounters the clouds, atmospheric aerosols, snow, ice, ocean surface, and rooftops and reflects back into space. [...]
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