NASA has released information on solar activity during the year 2008. Just for the record, nothing we as people do on earth effects solar activity. The bottom line on this is that the sun is emitting less heat than it has for a while.
We reached our peak of sun heat emissions in 2001 and have been going down ever since. The article pointed out that 2008 was one of the quietest years for sun activity (sunspots, etc.) since we have measured. According to the article:
"There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the year's 366 days (73%). To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days: plot. Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008."
As I said in the heading for the article, I am not a scientist, but it seems to me that if we are going to study climate change, it might be wise to start with solar activity.
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