Sunspot study (real weather science)

THE LAST time sunspot activity was as minimal as it is now was at the time of the ‘Federation droughts’ at the turn of the 20th century, and that has local expert Robert Baker watching the Sun with the keenest of interest.

Dr Baker, of the University of New England, has put forward an analysis which links periodic changes in the Sun’s magnetic field with global weather patterns. This discovery could enable scientists to gain a clearer understanding of how additional factors - such as greenhouse gases - contribute to those weather patterns.

A newly-published paper by Dr Baker establishes the connection between solar cycles and the weather by correlating sunspot activity and rainfall figures for south-eastern Australia over the past 130 years...