HOW UNPRECEDENTED A SOLAR MINIMUM?

The end of the current solar minimum is at least 2 years late, and indicators of solar and geomagnetic activity are approaching or are at their historical lows. We examine current indicators to determine how unprecedented this solar cycle might be, comment on possible earlier analogs to the current situation, and discuss attempts to predict future sunspot maxima on the basis of geomagnetic and solar magnetic data. Accompanying the change in the solar magnetic field has been a significant, albeit small, change in the total solar irradiance. Thus, the coming solar cycle(s) may provide an opportunity to separate the climatic effects of solar and anthropogenic sources.