Impacts of Extended Periods of Low Solar Activity on Climate (Abstract)

Volume 44 number 1 (2016)

William F. Denig

Chief Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division, National Centers for Environmental Information, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305; William.Denig@noaa.gov

Abstract

(Abstract only) There has been great interest in determining the length and amplitude of Solar Cycle 24 in recent years, in part due to increasing speculation that the current solar minimum is anomalously quiet and perhaps signaling the beginning of a decreased period of solar activity in the coming decades. We aim to examine the current solar minimum and compare it to previous solar minima in order to: determine if the current minimum shares characteristics with other historically quiet solar minima (sometimes referred to as grand minima); outline the potential consequences of a grand minimum with respect to climate; and predict the future of Solar Cycle 24.