Dr Baker, of the University of New England, has put forward an analysis which links periodic changes in the Sun’s magnetic field with global weather patterns. This discovery could enable scientists to gain a clearer understanding of how additional factors - such as greenhouse gases - contribute to those weather patterns.

A newly-published paper by Dr Baker establishes the connection between solar cycles and the weather by correlating sunspot activity and rainfall figures for south-eastern Australia over the past 130 years.

Cycles of sunspot activity are a visible indication of the periodic changes in magnetic forces within the Sun. The most well-known sunspot cycle is the 11-year ‘Schwab’ cycle, which comprises alternating five-and-a-half-year periods of relatively high and low sunspot activity.

Dr Baker’s paper shows that periods of increased sunspot activity are consistently associated with those periods of high rainfall in south-eastern Australia predicted by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). Periods of drought, such as that which has afflicted Australia for the past six years, are associated with minimal sunspot activity.

Dr Baker is an Associate Professor in UNE’s School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences. His paper compares sunspot / weather patterns in all 23 of the documented ‘Schwab’ cycles, noting particularly the similarity between Cycle 15 (1914-1924) and the current Cycle 23.

“Such comparisons between the current cycle and past cycles have important implications for both weather prediction and the monitoring of climate change,” Dr Baker said.

“They could not only allow us to forecast farther into the future, but - through analysing differences in weather patterns between the current cycle and a past cycle with similar sunspot activity - they could help us to isolate the effect of recent additions to the system such as greenhouse gases.