Climate scepticism: The top 10
BBC NEWS | Special Reports | 629 | 629 | Climate scepticism: The top 10
6. CLIMATE IS MAINLY INFLUENCED BY THE SUN
Sceptic
Earth history shows climate has regularly responded to cyclical changes in the Sun's energy output. Any warming we see can be attributed mainly to variations in the Sun's magnetic field and solar wind.
Counter
Solar variations do affect climate, but they are not the only factor. As there has been no positive trend in any solar index since the 1960s (and possibly a small negative trend), solar forcing cannot be responsible for the recent temperature trends. The difference between the solar minimum and solar maximum over the 11-year solar cycle is 10 times smaller than the effect of greenhouse gases over the same interval.