IPCC Global Warming Reports Underestimated Role of Sun in Warming: Study

Depending on the solar activity and temperature records used in the analysis, warming can be blamed on the sun, human activity, or both, the study found.

This picture taken on Nov. 3, 2013 shows a rare hybrid solar eclipse, in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. Photo credit SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Reports on global warming issued by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underestimate the role of the Sun in the warming process while falsely laying blame on human beings, according to a study published last month.

In 2021, Ronan Connolly, a scientist at the Center for Environmental Research and Earth Science (CERES), and his colleagues published a review raising concerns about multiple reports issued by the IPCC. The IPCC reports concluded that global warming since the mid-20th century was essentially human-driven, dismissing natural causes behind the process. The 2021 review was disputed in a 2022 article by two climate researchers who claimed that the review was “flawed,” that it “should not be treated as credible,” and that the IPCC’s decision to rule out solar activity as a major driver behind climate change “remains intact.”