This pretty much clinches my skepticism in the global warming hysteria.
This, and the reports coming in at http://www.iceagenow.com. Oh, and the fact that Al Gore is promoting “carbon credits” (which is a program to offset carbon pollution by individuals) created and operated by, oh guess who? Al Gore.
And you know what really galls me? Most conservatives/Republicans agree with me on the above. I feel like quite the outsider, let me tell you.
We have no control over vast terrestrial and cosmic cycles. Period!

The lack of sunspots does not mean the Sun is inactive. By contrast, we are beginning a new solar cycle that peaks in 2012. Scientist have gone on record expecting this solar cycle to be significantly more active than the last one. If anything, the Sun’s apparent “quiet phase” could be equated to the pause before a release of tension.
Further, the increase in vibration on this planet due to intense solar activity over the past 5 years (more spin, more heat) is having a profound and accelerated effect on the planet’s eco-systems. If current environmental shifts are any indication (e.g. melting of ice at the poles), we’re in for quite a ride over the next 4 years.
While the human species is not a primary player in this shift, nonetheless, we’re not helping matters by systematically weakening the world’s environmental safety checks via deforestation, fossil fuel burning, coral reef depletion etc. Yet, the human race has never been known for making things easier. I guess we’re “crisis” junkies through and through.

A friend who works for Nasa was telling me recently that the evidence they have been accumulating points to this being the end of the warming and the beginning of global cooling. Perhaps the CO2 in the atmosphere will turn out to be a blessing by minimizing the affects of the cooling of the climate.
History shows us the devastating effects global cooling has created in the past. Perhaps we will find that the pollution and warming issue is actually a blessing.

From what I’ve read there are records to show months without any sunspots that go in 103 and 216 year cycles. Here in England, at the beginning of every century when there have been these “quieter” periods in the sun’s activity we have had very cold winters and if anyone has read any Charles Dickens will know that there were Ice Fairs on the River Thames in London (18th/19th century) when it froze over and they would have bonfires on the ice to roast meat for the populace. No central heating or thermal underwear in those days.
Also in Roman times we had vineyards in Northumberland (north of England) so we must have had a more temperate climate to produce wine for the occupying army etc. The Dark Ages were the time of a mini ice age.
Our Royal Navy’s logbooks are an archive of written material from all over the world that record weather patterns for 300-400 years and there is plenty of evidence of warming and cooling before coal was burned in power stations or SUVs were invented. It is all cyclical and the Earth has a very good self-regulating mechanism, though I agree we haven’t helped much with deforestation etc.
I’ve never quite understood how Mankind can be so arrogant as to assume “we can change the climate”. Think Mother Nature may have something to say about that. Also as CO2 only makes up less than 1% of the atmosphere I’m not sure that it will have that big an impact. And I agree that once BIG business got involved and that money was made out of this it rather undermined the argument. Of course they were going to support AGW if it meant a profit for George Soros and his pals.
Even the IPCC have at last proposed a 10 year moratorium on global warming as the average temperature has been going down since 2000.

Regarding the “first month without sunpots,” reportedly, that is in some dispute.
Two short-lived spots were observed on the 21st. They were discounted originally.
http://www.seemysunspot.com/solar_pics2/0821_rapavy1.jpg
The Sun has been more quiescent than expected but there is a range of speculation as to what that means much further down the line.

Pollution and global warming “a blessing?” Say what? For whom? For the polar bears losing their habitat and food sources? For the creatures living in warmer oceans and the depletion of their food sources? I find that theory very suspect and far reaching indeed. I know you mean well, but “a blessing” involves more than just humans being saved and rescued IMO.

I guess we really don’t know what any of it means – I feel we’re at the bridge of a new awakening, scientifically and spiritually. It will soon become apparent that the workings of the world go far beyond what our current scientific models can encompass.

Definitely agree on the going beyond current scientific models, scientifically and spiritually. I think it would be great.
The current lull is still within historic norms, according to NASA, so we’ll see how it all pans out. According to the article linked below, “The ongoing solar minimum needs to accumulate another 206 spotless days before it matches the duration of the 1933 minimum, which is considered unremarkable by solar historians.”
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/11jul_solarcycleupdate.htm?list95542
The article has an illustration outlining the predicted range of solar activity in upcoming years. I will be interested to see how well models of solar activity hold up, and how that correlates to human and terrestrial activity.