---It is in the midst of an unusual sunspot minimum, lasting far longer and with a higher percentage of spotless days than normal; since May 2008, predictions of an imminent rise in activity have been regularly made and as regularly confuted.
---It is measurably dimmer than is usual during a sunspot minimum.
---Over the last two decades, the solar wind's speed has dropped 3%, its temperature 13%, and its density 20%.
---Its magnetic field is at less than half strength compared to the minimum of 22 years ago. The entire heliosphere, which fills the solar system, has shrunk as a result, resulting in an increase in the level of cosmic radiation striking the Earth and its atmosphere.
To sum up, nobody really knows why this is happening, or what it means for our climate. Go Here if you want to read scientists arguing about it.
Thanks for the link.
A link you may find interesting:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jun_jetstream.htm
“At an American Astronomical Society press conference today in Boulder, Colorado, researchers announced that a jet stream deep inside the sun is migrating slower than usual through the star’s interior, giving rise to the current lack of sunspots.”