National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Photo: Sunspots May Drive Heavy Rains in Africa


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

A new study suggests a correlation between sunspots and heavy rains in East Africa.

Although the dynamic is not well understood, researchers say the key factor may be the slight brightening of the sun that accompanies sunspots and affects weather patterns on Earth.

Image courtesy NASA/TRACE/ Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research