New paper finds another mechanism by which the Sun controls climate

A paper published today in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology finds climate change in the NE Pacific over the past ~5000 years has been strongly related to solar activity. The paper also finds yet another solar amplification mechanism by which the Sun controls climate, stating, "High solar activity ... may have been manifested as a prolonged westward shift and/or weakening of the Aleutian Low in the mid-late Holocene, which would have diverted fewer North Pacific storms and resulted in the relatively dry conditions reconstructed for the [NE Pacific]." The Aleutian Low is one of the main centers of action of the atmospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere. The IPCC claims tiny variations in solar activity cannot affect climate, but this paper and hundreds of others demonstrate solar activity has greatly amplified effects upon climate via ocean oscillations, stratospheric ozone, sunshine hours/clouds, and atmospheric oscillations such as the Madden-Julian oscillation, Quasi-biennial oscillation, and Aleutian Low.

Climate change and decadal to centennial-scale climate periodicities recorded in a late Holocene NE Pacific marine record: Examining the role of solar forcing

J.M. Galloway et al

Highlights:

Climate proxy data from NE Pacific Late Holocene sediments

Dry climate interval between 2948-2708 cal. yr BP and c. 1992-1727 cal. yr BP

The record contains periodicities of c. 42-53, 60-70, 82-89, 241-243, and 380 yrs

Periodicities are replicated in reconstructed sunspot data

Periodicities may reflect Gleissberg and Suess/de Vries solar cycles

Abstract: We present a decadal-scale late Holocene climate record based on diatoms, biogenic silica, and grain size from a 12-m sediment core (VEC02A04) obtained from Frederick Sound in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex of British Columbia, Canada. Sediments are characterized by graded, massive, and laminated intervals. Laminated intervals are most common between c. 2948-2708 cal. yr BP and c. 1992-1727 cal. yr BP. Increased preservation of laminated sediments and diatom assemblage changes at this time suggest that climate became moderately drier and cooler relative to the preceding and succeeding intervals. Spectral and wavelet analyses are used to test for statistically significant periodicities in time series of proxies of primary production (total diatom abundance, biogenic silica) and hydrology (grain size) preserved in the Frederick Sound record. Periodicities of c. 42-53, 60-70, 82-89, 241-243, and 380 yrs are present. Results are compared to reconstructed sunspot number data of Solanki et al. (2004) using cross wavelet transform to evaluate the role of solar forcing on NE Pacific climate. Significant common power of periodicities between c. 42-60, 70-89, 204-243, and of 380 yrs occur, suggesting that celestial forcing [solar activity] impacted late Holocene climate at Frederick Sound. Replication of the c. 204-243 yr periodicity in sunspot time series is most pronounced between c. 2900 cal. yr BP [before the present] and c. 2000 cal. yr BP, broadly correlative to the timing of maximum preservation of laminated sedimentary successions and diatom assemblage changes. High solar activity at the Suess/de Vries band may have been manifested as a prolonged westward shift and/or weakening of the Aleutian Low in the mid-late Holocene, which would have diverted fewer North Pacific storms and resulted in the relatively dry conditions reconstructed for the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex.