How anthropogenic activities influence terrestrial heat/temperature patternsfn2fn2An invited paper presented at the international conference on Current Research Trends in the field of Renewable Energy held in Nairobi from 17–20 February 1998

It is shown analytically that continuous interactions involving earthward extraterrestrial solar energy, the Earths spinning (and hence solar energy sampling) motion, and variation in the Sun–Earth distance give rise to large heat energy oscillations at the seasonal cycle frequency as well as at the frequencies of the solar cycles. These heat energy oscillations interact together to form some heat energy patterns (HEPs) made up of large seasonal oscillations that are themselves significantly amplitude-modulated by the large energy oscillations at the frequencies of solar cycles. Formation and characteristics of the HEPs are out of control or influence by man. But the heat/temperature variations that actually characterise the surface-atmosphere system (SAS) result from multiplicative interactions between the HEPs (whose formation is out of mans influence) and SAS characteristics (which can be influenced by man) . Since the influences of anthropogenic activities are mostly confined to the latter characteristics, we conclude that such activities can influence terrestrial heat/temperature variations only by changing some multiplicative terms attached to the HEPs and hence to solar forcing contributions. Finally, application of the analysis mentioned above to past global temperature records has led us into concluding that a new solar cycle exists at a period at or slightly greater than 320,000 years. Some physical justification for existence of this apparently new solar cycle is given.