[ronnyquest]

I majored in Geology in college back in the eighties, with minors in Meteorology and Astronomy. I'm not saying I'm an expert, nor am I a climate scientist--I never used my degrees professionally. I merely throw that out there as a frame of reference where I was exposed to the climate debate of the time.

Back then, the coming ice age was on everyone's lips the way man-made global warming is today. I think it made the cover of Time magazine at one point. Solar activity was somewhat lower then than it has been in recent years. Amateur radio operators have all kinds of stories about how bad the radio bands were back in those days without the Sun heavily irradiating the upper atmosphere. I'm sure a lot of that is subjective.

From a scientific standpoint, we really could not find any direct correlation between human activity and decreasing temperatures, even though non-scientists and those scientists whose livelihoods were tied to grants from the federal government and corporations whose profits are tied to the public being alarmed put out article after article that we are to blame.

Fact is, climate changes constantly, in spite of and despite us. Whether or not we are headed for an ice age, I cannot say. I can say that the warming trend recorded by certain people directly corresponds with--wait for it--increased solar activity. That's right, as the Sun puts out more energy, the temperatures recorded on Earth tend to be warmer. The founder of The Weather Channel has actually been charting this for decades. Who'd have thought that more solar radiation means higher temperatures?

[Monorprise]

“Who’d have thought that more solar radiation means higher temperatures?”

lol Now thats just crazy talk in a modern “university”!

Next thing we know you will be telling us that turning on the stove will cause the water sitting on it to get warmer...

[SuziQ]

Actually, it's not simply the radiance of the sun that affects our climate, it's the magnetic force of the sun, shown by the number of sunspots, that affects the number of cosmic rays that can reach the earth. The fewer sunspots, the more cosmic rays which can create more clouds, blocking the sun's heat, and possibly creating more rain and snow. The more sunspots, the fewer cosmic rays, the less nucleation that forms clouds, so we get more sunlight, thus we get warm.

A good explanation of this was put forth by Henrik Svensmark in his book "The Chilling Stars: A Cosmic View of Climate Change". It's written so that even non-scientists can understand it, and it's a great read.

[Paul R.]

and...

[Fedora]

TIME ran covers titled "The Big Freeze" on December 3, 1973 and January 31, 1977. (I would post the covers but I'm not sure on FR's linking policy for TIME's website.) More 1970s global cooling media coverage is archived at 1970s Global Cooling Alarmism.