We interrupt the tropical updates for a spotless sun…

The sun has been spotless for more than a month.  So what, right?  Well, according to the Mount Wilson Observatory at UCLA this is the sun’s first spotless month since June 1913.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believes there was a tiny speck of a spot visible on August 21st, but the Mount Wilson Observatory is not recognizing that speck as a spot.  Either way, we are clearly in a period of minimum solar activity and this could affect the world’s climate.  Sunspot records go back to 1749 and over the past 1000 years three historic periods of minimum sunspot activity: the Dalton, Maunder and Sporer minimums, have all led to a much cooler climate on earth.  Details of this spotless sun can be found on DailyTech.com.

Tom Tasselmyer