New study raises warning about warming in near future

   In spite of the fact 10 of the hottest years on record occurred between 1997 and 2008, temperatures have moderated somewhat since 1998.  In fact, 2008 was the coolest year since 2000, though still the ninth warmest year recorded. Global warming skeptics have been pointing to these numbers and claiming things are cooling off.  But as a new study points out, global average temperatures have remained relatively high in spite of the low level of recent solar activity.  The sun is due to enter a period of heightened activity now. 

According to one article on the soon to be released study:

It shows that the relative stability in global temperatures observed in the last seven years is explained primarily by the decline in incoming sunlight associated with the downward phase of the 11-year solar cycle, together with a lack of strong El Niño events. These trends have masked the warming caused by CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

In other words, even though temperatures have remained flat or trended slightly downward recently, this slight "cooling trend" may very well reverse itself in a big way as the sun becomes more active again in the immediate future.

There is the possibility the sun's activity will be below the normal high levels experienced during typical solar maximums.  If this turns out to be true and temperatures climb considerably anyway as predicted in the study cited above and about to be released in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the thin silver lining to all of this may be we can finally put any debate regarding global warming to rest.