BBC News | In graphics: Climate change and the Sun: three theories, Direct heat

Direct heat

The Sun's output varies over a cycle of about 11 years (the sunspot cycle), and on longer timescales.

More energy coming from the Sun should clearly result in a warmer world.

But over the last few centuries, the variation has been in the order of 0.1%, too small to cause directly the temperature changes we have seen on Earth.


In graphics: Climate change and the Sun: three theories

	Direct heat The Sun's output varies over a cycle of about 11 years (the sunspot cycle), and on longer timescales. More energy coming from the Sun should clearly result in a warmer world. But over the last few centuries, the variation has been in the order of 0.1%, too small to cause directly the temperature changes we have seen on Earth.