Shining a light on solar radiation

摘要

he weather has been somewhat quiet of late. I'm not referring to tropospheric weather, but to solar weather. If you thought the two were mutually exclusive, you would be wrong. As of 1st December 2019, the highest number of consecutive days without any observable sunspots reached 25, making a total of 254 spotless days in the year to date (75%). As a result, and with a month to go, 2019 surpassed the 222 spotless days observed in 2018. It even looks set to eclipse 2008's total of 269 spotless days (73%), when the sun had just gone through its weakest solar cycle - and, consequently, its deepest solar minimum -of the past 100-plus years. So, what does this mean for us? As inhabitants of Earth, the sun's solar cycle can have a huge effect on the climate we experience. Furthermore, as pilots and inhabitants of the stratosphere (at times), the solar cycle influences the environment in which we work - not always to our advantage.