Solar Cycle 24 May Have Finally Begun 72
xyz writes "NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center reports that the number of sunspots in October for Solar Cycle 24 outnumbered Solar Cycle 23 for the first time, indicating the start of a new solar cycle. Solar activity was observed to be at a 50-year low, with no sunspots for 200 days this year."
Effect on climate... (Score:2, Insightful)
From the article: "There is also the matter of solar irradiance," adds Pesnell. "Researchers are now seeing the dimmest sun in their records. The change is small, just a fraction of a percent, but significant. Questions about effects on climate are natural if the sun continues to dim."
Even with the new sunspots of cycle 24, the sun is becoming...dimmer. "Dim sun" is the new climate buzzword for 2009 to replace 'greenhouse effect.'