by how much does the sun activity effect climate?

Question

at the moment I believe it is high,

Answer 1

The key thing here is the time scale. Over short periods of time the effect the sun has on our climate is minute but over hundreds, thousands and millions of years it has a profound effect.

The sun, like Earth, goes through many different cycles, some of these last only a few years whereas others last for thousands of years. It's these cycles and the way in which they interact that have an effect on our climate.

The shortest cycle that the sun goes through is an eleven year sunspot cycle and the difference between the maximum and mimimum output is very small, it's a variation of less than one thousandth*.

From time to time there are periods of extremely high or extremely low solar activity. The most noticeable one that occurred recently is a period known as the Maunder Minimum, this was a period of several hundered years in which there was almost no sunspot activity at all. As the decades and centuries wore on the compound effect began to increase but all the same, the effect was small - less than one three thousandth of a degree per year.

In recent decades the sun has been relatively stable and there has been no marked variation in solar output. In fact, you have to wind the clock back tens of thousands of years to find a time when the sun was having a marked short term effect on our climate.

* Technical - solar output is measures in Watts per square metre per year, the mean annual solar output is 1366W/m2/yr, the difference between insolation maxima and minima is 1.3W/m2/yr.

Answer 2

The sun is responsible for nearly all of the climate and weather conditions on earth - from wind to storms to blistering heat and humidity. The temperature differences on earth cause the winds, and the tilt of the earth causes the sun's radiation to hit the earth with varying amounts of intensity - thus causing the winter, summer, spring and fall seasons. That said, the output of the sun is extremely constant over a long period of time (say the age of earth) and the climate changes that we feel now are most likely do to effects of human activity and fossil fuel comsumption. There have been documented climate changes are similar to the climate changes that we are experiencing now (which is why many do NOT believe in global warming). Hope this helps. Good question.

Answer 3

A very great deal, indeed. The sun is the main source of heat and is the engine of our climate and the variations that go with it. Witness how quickly the temperature drops when dark clouds hide the sun, and conversely, how hot it gets the next moment when the clouds move away. The interaction of the sun and the other phenomena and features - clouds, wind, sea, land masses, currents, tree cover, latitude, altitude, etc., all help determine what the global climate is, and what is found in a particular place. And the sun is a highly active, if stable, star. Yet some people tend to discount the impact on our climate of changes in this interaction and variation.

Answer 4

It is interesting how tied the alarmist are to CO2 that they don't even dare acknowledge that the sun is primarily responsible for cyclical global climate change. There are cycles that result from the solar output and sun spots and there are cycles that result from the earth's orbit and wobbles around the sun. These cycles provide regular glacial and interglacial periods of warming and cooling that are obviously unrelelated to any human activity.

Answer 5

Techically very little apart from solar flares. Global warming is not caused by the Sun .The Sun remains as always give or take said Solar Flares. We are The Cause of Global Warming..
Climate Change could be Partially caused by Tectonic Plate Activity causing Changes in Oceanic Currents but Earth and it`s
Inhabitants are The Causal Agencies not The Sun.

Answer 6

According to a recent report the Sun's output has been in decline over the last 20 years and is not the cause of climate change. The Sun is currently moving towards the low in its 11 year sunspot cycle.

Answer 7

according to research done at Bristol university the sun has been 2 degrees cooler over the last ten years than it was in the previous ten years yet the planet is not a cool as it should be given the suns current cycle. conclusion global warming is being created by mankind.
but next week i bet another group of scientists will reach a different conclusion based on the same research. personally i think its better to err on the side of caution and try to get everybody to be green

Answer 8

Scientists have studied this carefully. The present global warming is known to be about 10% due to the sun.

Here's a nice picture from the Source below.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png

And here are discussions of the role of the Sun in global warming:

http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11650
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/FAQ2.html

Answer 9

Am I being to simplistic? But without the sun we would have no climate, be it a dark cold rock!

Answer 10

BRIX is correct. Energy from the sun is responsible for most of our climate and weather.