Bibcode
Pallé Bagó, E.; Butler, C. J.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy & Geophysics, Volume 41, Issue 4, pp. 4.18-4.22.
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8
2000
Citations
10
Refereed citations
9
Description
We analyse the new ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology
Project) D2 cloud data to ascertain if a connection between cosmic-ray
flux and cloud cover exists. Despite a previous finding that total-cloud
factor and cosmic-ray fluxes were correlated, our results indicate that
only the low-level cloud follows solar activity over the full period,
1983-94. Using several proxies for solar activity and the radiative
forcing calculated by Ockert-Bell (1992) for the ISCCP cloud types, we
estimate the possible impact that such a solar-terrestrial connection
may have on climate. We conclude that, possibly excluding the most
recent decades, much of the warming of the past century can be
quantitatively accounted for by the direct and indirect effects of solar
activity.