With wintry temperatures, snow, and ice pummeling the majority of the United States right now, even the most diehard climate change fanatics are dropping their “global warming” rhetoric for at least the time being. But what exactly is causing some of the lowest temperatures and heaviest snowfall in recent memory? Some scientists (not on the federal payroll, no doubt) are pointing to the recent solar minimum as the probable explanation:

. . . If history is a guide, it is safe to say that weak solar activity for a prolonged period of time can have a negative impact on global temperatures in the troposphere which is the bottom-most layer of Earth’s atmosphere — and where we all live. There have been two notable historical periods with decades-long episodes of low solar activity. The first period is known as the “Maunder Minimum”, named after the solar astronomer Edward Maunder, and it lasted from around 1645 to 1715. The second one is referred to as the “Dalton Minimum”, named for the English meteorologist John Dalton, and it lasted from about 1790 to 1830. Both of these historical periods coincided with below-normal global temperatures in an era now referred to by many as the “Little Ice Age”.

We are now entering the solar minimum for this solar cycle, and it appears that the spotless sun phenomenon that started about twenty years ago will continue for some time. Could this solar minimum explain the recent “hiatus” in global warming? Yes. Most definitely. In fact, the solar minimum is much more closely correlated with the recent drop in temperature than carbon emissions.

Why “scientists” keep on harping on anthropogenic climate change when the absence of sunspots has better explanatory power for climate fluctuation is beyond me. Consensus science and peer pressure probably have something to do with it. But I think its also the case that centering climate change on human action has more narrative power and offers greater rewards in terms of coercive leverage. If it becomes obvious that the sun’s natural cycles (obviously outside of our control) have more to do with our climate than anything humans do, then the totalitarians in charge of the civil and scientific establishment have one less propoganda tool at their disposal with which to manipulate public policy and opinion.

I would imagine they will do whatever is necessary to keep that from happening.