Dumbest headline of the week:

Now, the rest of the media is catching on: Very low sunspot numbers . Some believe this will lead to global cooling. See here and here , for just two articles on that topic. Here is the irony: Most all of those that have studied the issue believe that significant cooling would be worse for humanity than slow warming. It is not out of the question that we may want  the greenhouse gases that have been accumulating in the atmosphere if the sun induces a cooling trend.

Because there is so much confusion on the subject, I have written a couple of times lately about the importance of sunshine to a healthy life. Those posts are here and here . A new study confirms these findings. I reproduce both the headline and the photo (for scientific purposes, of course) below: Women who sunbathe live longer: study To be clear: Excessive  sun, especially when it leads to sunburn, is unhealthy. But, in general, modern society has gone too far with skin cancer concerns and is risking broader health problems due to lack of exposure to sunlight. Hat tip:   Instapundit .

University of Colorado and NASA Research Center to Study Sun’s Effects on Earth’s Climate Better late than never, I guess. Details here .

During the last ten days, we have seen several groups of sunspots.  Is the the sun coming out of its funk?  If so, it would lessen the chances of global cooling that some have warned of.  The only thing we can do is watch, because there is no scientific expertise (at least that I know of) at forecasting sunspots in the short term. December 18th                       December 21                        For much of the last three years, we have experienced a "blank sun."  At times in the past, extended periods of low sunspot activity have been associated with cooling such as the Little Ice Age.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out. By the way, if you wish to view sunspots, you can look at real-time solar images  here.