Geoscience Reference
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et al. (2011) that accurate knowledge and information on solar UV irradiance is
important for a physical modeling of the relationship between the stratosphere and
troposphere.
• Misrepresentation of solar magnetic field measurements by William Livingston
andMattPennattheU.S.NationalSolarObservatory.LivingstonandPennclearly
suggest that their solar magnetic field observation may be extrapolated to yield a
highly weakened sun in the near future, but IPCC authors misrepresented the fact
by suggesting only a minor effect.
• Erroneous and unqualified rejection of the study of sun-like stars. The IPCC
authors incorrectly claimed that the study of sun-like stars is not important for any
physical facts about our sun. Their rejection is based on the illogical assumption
that useful knowledge about the sun cannot be obtained from observation of other
stars.
The IPCC draws attention to the estimated inter-annual variability of the sun's radiative
forcing as being merely several twentieths of a Watt per square meter, but overlooks the
90 Wm
-2
change that occurs in total solar irradiance from its maximum to its minimum
distance from Earth. The relative importance of seasonal insolation on historical climate
change can be readily demonstrated. During the warm Eemian interglacial period 130,000
to 110,000 years ago, the amplitude of the seasonal insolation was two to three times
larger than today because the eccentricity of the earth's orbit was 4 per cent greater.
Even if one wished to assume no difference in intrinsic, non-orbital component of solar
irradiance between the Eemian warm period and the current or Holocene warm period,
the importance of the relatively large seasonal insolation during the Eemian period in
explaining the drastically warmer climate that then prevailed is consistent with many high
quality paleoclimate records.
What cannot be ignored is the persistent and systematic failure of computer climate
model simulations cited by the IPCC to represent and simulate the full dynamics of the
seasonal evolution of climate. In a 2014 paper, Timothy Cronin recently highlighted the
fact that even the simple question of what average solar zenith angle to use in climate
models is not resolved and that the incorrect representation of solar zenith angle can lead
To take an example, the January (i.e. winter minimum) temperatures in China during
the mid-Holocene Climate Optimum period of roughly 6000 years ago were known to be
about 6 to 8°C warmer than present, based on the study of paleo-vegetation and pollens. In
a 2012 paper, Dabang Jiang et al. recently showed that all 36 of the world's best climate
models in the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project backward forecasted
cooler
