Why don't people take into account that the Sun is the number one cause of "Global Warming"?

Because the sun, while the source of heat for Earth, is not the cause of the CHANGE in global temperatures.

Scientists looked at a change in solar output as a possible cause--years ago. The found that the minor chages in solar output did not account for the increase in global temperatures. What they did find is that the increases in CO2 in the atmosphere as a result of human activities had a heat-trapping effect like a blanket (the greenhouse effect). The Earth is warming not because of a change in solar output, but because our atmosphere is trapping more heat and allowing less to escape into space.

The so-called "doubters" keep harping on this point. That's because of their ignorance. they picked up on some of the early studies that examined the possibility the sun wa sthe cause, and, because they don't understand anything about science, took this as a "proof." And don't bother to follow the line of research to its end.

And, I don't want to be rude--but that's exactly what you are doing. And you are only showing 9re your "additional details) that you don't understand how science works and certainly not the state of the field of climate research. The debate is over--there comes a point where all possibilities have been considered--and that point was reached years ago. After that point, "alternative explanations" aren't legitimate discussion--they are simply pointless noise.

Put simply, as scientists study a phenomenon, they publish their findings and speculations, exploring and discussing ALL possibilities. That's hw they check each other's work and gradually eliminate possibilities and zero in on the actual cause. That can take years--but when it is complete, and all the scientists competant in the particular research are satisfied everything has been accounted for, that's what is called a "scientific consensus." In other words, it doesn't mean scientists jsut sit down and decide on a theory. It means a point has been reached in which the evidence for a particular explanation has become so overwhelming that no (legitimate) doubts remain.

The "doubters" don't understand this-and obviously don't care. They simply grab onto anything they find--including popular magazines, YouTube, etc--as "evidence." Its pathetic, really--and a symptom of the sad state of education in our schools.

According to Richard Willson, a Columbia University researcher also affiliated with NASA, "The Sun's radiation has increased by .05 percent per decade since the late 1970's"

"The new study shows that the TSI has increased by about 0.1 percent over 24 years. That is not enough to cause notable climate change, Willson and his colleagues say, unless the rate of change were maintained for a century or more."

The problem is that there is not enough evidence yet to determine if this is a short term trend or a long term trend.

When that evidence is found (which I predict should be within the next 4 years, after the solar minimum in 2010), people will know better how to take into account the Sun.

For the time being, I'm not sold on the theory that increase in solar output is the primary cause of global warming. But, I'm open to it.

Frankly, if it turned out to be true that global warming was caused strictly due to increase in solar output, I'd be slightly relieved...

In the meantime, I'm trying to ride my bike more, and I'm turning the air conditioning completely off when I leave the house... just in case the popular consensus of global warming is correct and I CAN do something about it.

Depends on what you mean. An increase in solar radiation isn't the cause of the global climate change that is currently occuring, that is quite clear as we have a number of measuring devices trained on the sun at all times (some on sattelites, some terrestrial measuring stations) and there simply has not been a sufficient increase in solar radaitive output that would even come close to accounting for the observed fact that the earths average temperature is increasing.

In fact we've essentially ruled out all suggested possibilities at this point... other than human activity.

*addition* I'll say it again another way then: we measure solar radiative output constantly, we KNOW for a fact (in as much as it's possible to know anything) that the sun putting out more energy cannot be majorly responsible (in fact cannot have as much as 10 percent responsibility) for the current increase in global average temperatures. Further more if what you said was true then every planet and satellite in the solar system would have experienced a raise in temperature based on their distance from the sun. This has not occurred. In essence your argument doesn't fit with the observed facts, you are wrong.

Well I guess its "causing" global warming technically because it heats up the Earth. BUT in ideal conditions some of the heat is reflected back off the Earth and goes into space. The rest of the heat is trapped in by our atmosphere, which keeps the planet warm enough for us to live.

Our problem now is that with industrialization and the invention of cars we have created pollution. That pollution is mostly carbon dioxide and some other gases. Those gases go up into the atmosphere and thicken it, which allows less heat to leave like it should. Subsequently, the Earth is getting gradually warmer.

We don't take the sun into consideration because we need it, we can't do anything about it, and it's not really the cause of global warming.

Having read the first three answers it is plain to see the "Global Warming" alarmist are doing a great job of misinformation. The current warming trend we are on will continue for another 6~8 yrs. After that we will be on a cooling trend for the next 30 years. The Sun is the #1 heat source and to discount it is to ignore the obvious. The Sun is in a cycle of peak solar activity, NASA is well aware of this and has stated so. BUT the Warming crowd either ignores it or doesn't care because it doesn't fit their agenda. Just take a look at a recent report on the locations of 200 weather transmitters. Several were loacted in front of AC ventalation systems having 130+ deg.F air blown on them 24-7. Another was located at an airport and has jet exhaust being directed at it. And we are told the data is good. Next are the Greenland glacers, is seems the ice wasn't aways there, homes, animals, and insects are being found as the ice receeds, proving it was a GREEN LAND at one time in the recent past. The best one I've read about is an island in the Pacific that is being covered up do to rising water. NEWS FLASH the islands elders have been dealing with this for generations. Not far off shore you can find old huts etc in 20' of water. No the water hasn't risen 20', the island is sinking. This island is made of coral and the coral is settling. The island elders have known this for generations. People need to wake up and do some real research and not always trust the news they are getting from the "main stream media" or the Hollywood drones. For those who want to blame man for everthing, do some real research, go to some alternate sources and compare the both sets of data and mostly find out how they got their data. Then find out who funded them.

What people are you talking about? The very first global climate factor taken into account by climate modellers was the sun. Then they added in volcanic emissions and sunspots. These and other natural causes accounted for most of the warming up until mid-century, but could not account for the acceleration in global warming since about 1960. When they factored in greenhouse gases (GHGs), they found that human GHG emissions have accounted for about 80-90% of the recent global warming while the sun accounts for 5-10%:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_...

Scientists DO consider this extensively, measuring the changing radiation of the Sun, and incorporating it into their calculations.

Until about 40 years ago the Sun, and other natural causes, WERE the main cause of climate change. Then the scientific data clearly shows, Man took over:

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate...

Here's what solar scientists say:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/FAQ2...

And, the bottom line for scientists:

"While evidence suggests fluctuations in solar activity can affect climate on Earth, and that it has done so in the past, the majority of climate scientists and astrophysicists agree that the sun is not to blame for the current and historically sudden uptick in global temperatures on Earth, which seems to be mostly a mess created by our own species."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258342,00.html

Good website for more information:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

The Sun is the ultimate source of Life! It has been around forever, but Global Warming is relatively new. Global Warming is caused by Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide which comes out of the exaust pipes of cars. These gases destroy the ozone layer which prevents the radiation and heat of the sun from entering our planet.Use Hybrid Cars! Prevent Global Warming!

So you're saying we should shut off the sun? No matter how I look at it, I can't make sense of your question. Of course the sun is the cause. What difference does that make?

Because the the damage we are doing to the ozone is the major threat that we have control over. Its our pollution that is causing the problem, and our priority to stop such negative effects to the Earth. The sun is a factor that we have absolutely no control over, so it leaves no reason to focus on it as the source of the problem.