Sun shunned - Climate Change: The Facts - page 40

4 Sun shunned
William Soon
Maunder's principal contribution was to emphasize the varying level of solar activity over the
centuriessincetheadventofthetelescope,withparticularattentiontothescarcityofsunspotsfrom
about 1645 to 1715, beginning only 35 years after the start of telescopic observations. Maunder's
point was conveniently ignored, or even denied, because no one knew what it meant. Fortunately,
Jack Eddy took up the historical investigation about 30 years ago and turned up enough old
records that the reality of the 'Maunder Minimum' was established beyond any reasonable doubt.
Subsequent historical research has unearthed detailed systematic records of sunspot numbers
which show how peculiar the behavior of the Sun was during that time. Then with modern data
on the atmospheric production rate of carbon 14 by cosmic rays, Eddy went on to show that such
prolonged periods of solar inactivity have occurred ten times in the last 7000 years. So we may
anticipate that there will be yet another Maunder Minima in the future.
—E. N. Parker, University of Chicago (2003) 1
The many, many thousands of pages of the Assessment Reports of the UN's climate panel,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are the expression of the beliefs of
asmallcircleofscientistsandinterestedlobbyistswho,againstallevidence,haveconvinced
themselves that humans are having a dramatic effect on the Earth's climate. 2 The IPCC
itself describes its role as 'to assess … the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate
change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.' 3 In short, before
they began to compile their reports, the IPCC took 'human-induced climate change' as their
belief, perhaps adding the term 'risk of' as a weak attempt to suggest impartiality.
The 'principles' under which the IPCC operates include the following: 'In taking
decisions,andapproving,adoptingandacceptingreports,thePanel,itsWorkingGroupsand
any Task Forces shall use all best endeavours to reach consensus.' 4 The IPCC's objective of
consensus is plainly anti-scientific.
IneleventhcenturyIraq,Alhazen,justlycelebratedinthe ummah wahida ofIslamasone
of the founders of the scientific method, wrote that the seeker after truth does not place his
faith in any mere consensus, however widespread or venerable. Instead, using his hard-won
scientificknowledge,hetakescaretoverifywhathehaslearnedofit.'Theroadtothetruth,'
said Alhazen, 'is long and hard: but that is the road we must follow.'
In my field, the physics of the sun, the IPCC asserts against all evidence that the sun has
little influence on climate change. This represents neither a consensus nor an authoritative
review of the subject. My own summary of the latest science and evidence on the sun's
influence on the climate comes to quite opposite conclusions. 5