A Study on Possible Solar Influence on the Climate of the Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

Three multi-proxy reconstructions of temperature in the Southern Hemisphere, were analyzed over the last millennium. Fourier and wavelet analysis showed that century-scale (55–120 years) and bicentennial (ca 250 years) variability is present in this series. That means that the climate of the Southern Hemisphere has periodicities similar to the solar cycles of Gleissberg and Suess. However, a comparison of the century-long variations in the Southern Hemisphere temperature records with the corresponding variation in four solar activity proxies showed that only one reconstruction of) displays century-long correlation with solar activity. The solar-like periodicities in the other two records do not show significant correlation with solar cycles. Therefore, based on the results obtained, it is difficult to draw a definite conclusion about the influence of solar activity on the climate of the Southern Hemisphere. To clarify this issue, it is necessary to obtain and analyze new independent temperature reconstructions in the Southern Hemisphere.