Representatives from NOAA, NASA, and the international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel recently announced that the Sun has reached its solar maximum period, which could continue for the next year.
The solar cycle is a natural cycle that the Sun goes through as it transitions between low and high magnetic activity. Roughly every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip and the Sun transitions from being calm to an active and stormy state.
During solar maximum, the number of sunspots (cooler regions on the Sun caused by a concentration of magnetic field lines) and the amount of solar activity increases. The increase in solar activity can impact satellites and astronauts in space, as well as navigation systems, radios, and power grids.
With the increased solar activity, chances of seeing the northern lights, or aurora, can also increase. Auroras have already been visible in lower latitude states like Florida and Texas this year, and it is quite possible it could happen again!
When the Sun is in solar maximum, there can also be impacts to the weather and climate on Earth. Most of the energy from the sun is emitted in the visible wavelengths, and the output of those wavelengths only changes by about 0.1% over the course of the solar cycle. However, ultraviolet wavelengths change by up to 15% throughout the solar cycle. Overall, the change in solar energy over the course of the solar cycle is not enough to power even one additional 15-Watt light bulb with a solar panel.
Careful scientific measurements suggest that solar activity does in fact warm the Earth by about a tenth of a degree Celsius during solar maximum. There are also subtle influences on some of the climate’s internal modes of variability such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. Excess solar radiation can also be absorbed by the ocean and cloud-free areas of the subtropics resulting in enhanced evaporation and strengthening of the trade winds.
