11 June 2014
Has The Solar Cycle Peaked? NASA Says Probably.
Posted by Dan Satterfield
The 11 year solar cycle has apparently peaked, but it has been one of the weakest solar maxes of the modern era. The cycle is actually 22 years because at the end of 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field flips, and then flips again 11 years later.
NASA has a video out today that explains more, and it’s important to note that some of the biggest solar storms can occur as the cycle begins to fade, so fans of the Aurora have nothing to cry about.
Oh, and if you have any thought that this has anything significant to do with the warming of the planet, see the image below.
Hi, Dan,
I lurk here, and find your blog interesting.
My question is on the last chart – can you tell me it’s source? And why is Ozone shown separately to Greenhouse Gases – perhaps they wanted to show its cooling component?
Because Ozone in the Troposphere is a greenhouse gas causing warming, whereas the loss of Ozone in the stratosphere has some cooling effect.