Why are sun spot numbers correlated with average lake level?

I have no idea. The sun spot period actually varies from 7 - 12 years so it is not surprising that with such a large range, you will not find things that are correlated with it which have no 'causal' relationship whatsoever. Only a very careful statistical analysis will tell you if the correlation is significant, or if it is expected given the measurement uncertainties.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
Return to Ask the Astronomer.