ProClim- Forum «Solar Variability and Climate»

Following the international workshop «Solar Variability and Climate» of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) from June 28 to July 2 1999 in Berne, ProClim- and the ISSI organized a public forum addressing the same issue. The forum aimed at summarizing the discussions and results of the ISSI workshop and to make them accessible to a broader public. Researchers from all over the world concluded that fluctuations in solar radiation constitute an important factor influencing the earth's climate. Even though its magnitude merely varies by about a permille over the solar activity cycle, it causes direct variations of the global temperature by about half a degree. But the solar influence is not the only important factor affecting the climate. The rapid temperature increase during the last 20 years is probably not due to a changing sun, but is most likely caused by man-made greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide), the concentration of which was never as high during the last 15'000 years as it is today in the atmosphere.
About 50 people took part in the forum - mainly researchers, and some people from the government and the media.