on to sunspot cycles...Curries (1995) identification of the 18.6 year lunisolar cycle and the 11 year solar cycles in Chinese dryness/wetness indices, for example. Such phenomena have been associated with floods, draughts, poor harvests, and the like. A 1988 study by Labitzke and Loon made a connection between sunspot maxima/minima and quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). The QBO is an oscillation of the zonal wind component in the stratosphere above the equatorial region with a periodicity of ca. 27 months. Their study over a 36-year period pointed out a positive link between warmer winters during the Suns more active periods and between colder winters when the Sun is least active and when the QBO is in a westerly direction. They found that the reverse conditions also applied. While this relationship has subsequently been criticised and generally disrespected, recent polar ice core samples have indeed shown correlations consistent with the study. Indeed, a 1990 study by Beer et al linked 10Be deposition with the 11-year sunspot in Dye 3 ice core from Greenland. Beer et al. state that increased levels of 10Be occur when solar activity declines; and because the intensity of the solar wind is reduced there is an increase in the generation of cosmogenic isotopes such as 10Be and 14C. Another 1990 study by Wigley and Kelly not only fortifies but also adds to these findings. Not only is there a relationship, albeit complicated by the effects of precipitation, between the 10Be in the Vostok ice core and temperature change, but there is also a possible relationship between the 14C concentrations and fluctuations in glaciers. The nature of this relationship and the way it varies have yet to be determined; for now, change in solar irradiance, alias sunspots cycles, remain as enigmatic as ever. Tree ring data has also been helpful in the study of natural climatic change. In addition to the variables just noted, there are researchers who...
