sunspots
it looks like the sun is going cold. ie this sunspot cycle might be the last one for a while. it's entirely possible the next peak, #24 around 2016 or so, might be the last one i ever see. dang. that thought is making me feel old and mortal. anywho, it's actually kinda nifty that it's happening. cause right now there are a bunch of folks who claim global warming is caused by the sun and not by people. if only we could shut off the sun for a while. then we'd know for sure. heh. we might get that wish. current estimates put total warming at about 0.3 to 0.4 C warming per decade. observed temperature fluctuation due to the sun's periodic active/inactive cycle is closer to 0.1 C per decade. unfortunately, the data that will confirm/rebut that prediction won't be available for about 25 years. really unfortunate. it'd be nice to know right now if we need to seriously put the brakes on our exploding population like the "alarmists" say. or if we can party on like the "denialists" say. i'm inclined to be conservative here. at least for one meaning of the word. we can always make more people later if our fears turn out to be unjustified.