Effect of Space Weather On Terrestrial Weather
The amount of energy entering the troposphere and stratosphere from all space weather phenomena is trivial compared to the solar insolation in the visible and infra-red portions of the solar electromagnetic spectrum. However there does seem to be some linkage between the 11 year sunspot cycle and the Earth's climate. For example, the Maunder minimum, a 70 year period almost devoid of sunspots, correlates to a cooling of the Earth's climate. One suggestion for the linkage between space and terrestrial weather is that changes in cosmic ray flux cause changes in the amount of cloud formation. Another suggestion is that variations in the EUV flux subtly influence existing drivers of the climate and tips the balance between states such as the El Niño/La Niña states. However, a linkage between space weather and the climate has not been demonstrated conclusively.
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