claim: They tell us that we are the primary forces controlling earth temperatures by the burning of fossil fuels and releasing their carbon dioxide. I hope my readers can recognize the absurdity of their claims. … increasing sunspots are linked to increases in earth temperature
evidence: The claim appeared in an article published by CFACT in April 2020. This claim directly contradicts ample scientific evidence showing that human-caused increases in greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2, have been the primary driver of global warming[1,2]. [...] Specifically, the article claims that "increasing sunspots are linked to increases in earth temperature," however, this claim is not supported by scientific evidence. Li et al (2017) analyzed the relationship between the number of sunspots and global warming and found that "solar activity is not a representation of the driving force of the upward trend of global temperature after the industrial age. The Granger causality test results demonstrate that the phenomenon of global warming is caused by excessive CO2 emissions."[5]. Figure—The monthly average number of sunspots (left) and global surface temperature time series from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (right). Although sunspot number varies in approximately 11 year cycles, global temperature has steadily increased since 1950.