International
Do Sunspots Influence Weather?
Scientists have long suspected that sunspots have an effect on Earth's weather, and according to a new study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, they do. Researchers found that unusually cold winters are linked to periods of low sunspot activity, and that the Rhine, Germany's largest river, is the key.
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Scientists have long suspected that sunspots have an effect on Earth's weather, and according to a new study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, they do. (Photo: NASA) |
Researchers looked at when the Rhine froze, and found that since 1780, the Rhine has frozen 14 times, and of those times, 10 occurred during times of low sunspot activity.
"The advantage with studying the Rhine is because it's a very simple measurement," Frank Sirocko, lead author of the study and professor of stedimentology and paleoclimatology at the Institute of Geosciences of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, said in a statement. "Freezing is special in that it's like an on-off mode. Either there is ice or there is no ice."
Researchers said it's the first time a common link has been found between usually cold winters in Germany.
"We provide, for the first time, statistically robust evidence that the succession of cold winters during the last 230 years in Central Europe has a common cause,"Sirocko said. [ read more ]
