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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Sunspot Activity Increases in April

The current weak, double-peak, solar cycle appears not to have reached its apex yet.  Provisional numbers for April show an increased sunspot number, on average.



However a surge of activity mid-month was responsible for the increase, and subsequently the lowest single day SSN of the year was recorded, a 34 on the 26th of April, which may presage a decline in May.


The link, and the lag, to climatological impacts is not well understood, though long  periods of low solar activity in history were correlated with colder temps (the Maunder and Dalton Minima).