Solar Activity “Not Behind Climate Change”

Another nail in the coffin for the climate sceptics. Changes in the sun’s intensity are not behind modern climate change, new evidence suggests.

The research, carried out by physicists at Lancaster University in the UK, undermines claims by climate sceptics that cosmic rays are key drivers in cloudiness and temperature. The theory claims that variation in solar activity leads to a corresponding variance in cosmic rays.

However, the Lancaster team, whose findings are presented in an article in the journal Environmental Research Letters, have found no significant link. The scientists used three different methods of searching for a correlation but found almost nothing.

The cosmic ray theory, put forward by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark, has already been under scrutiny in recent years, although were the central theme in the controversial misleading polemic “The Great Global Warming Swindle.”

According to the Lancaster scientist who led the research, Terry Sloan, the message coming from his research is simple. “We tried to corroborate Svensmark’s hypothesis, but we could not; as far as we can see, he has no reason to challenge the IPCC – the IPCC has got it right. So we had better carry on trying to cut carbon emissions.”