On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:08:51 +0000, Larry wrote:

Goofball_star_dot_etal wrote in
:

The bottom line is that current models enable us to attribute the
causes of past climate change and predict the main features of the
future climate with a high degree of confidence. We now need to
provide more regional detail and more complete analysis of extreme
events.


OK, so what DID cause the Little Ice Age in the middle of the smoke
stacks during the height of the coal-fired industrial revolution??



Solar activity

Solar activity events recorded in radiocarbon.During the period
1645–1715, right in the middle of the Little Ice Age, solar activity as
seen in sunspots was extremely low, with some years having no sunspots at
all. This period of low sunspot activity is known as the Maunder Minimum.
The precise link between low sunspot activity and cooling temperatures
has not been established, but the coincidence of the Maunder Minimum with
the deepest trough of the Little Ice Age is suggestive of such a
connection [22]. The Spörer Minimum has also been identified with a
significant cooling period during the Little Ice Age. Other indicators of
low solar activity during this period are levels of carbon-14 and
beryllium-10 [23]. The low solar activity is also well documented in
astronomical records. Astronomers in both Europe and Asia documented a
decrease in the number of visible solar spots during this time period.


Your source (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
provides a link below:
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/070.htm


[edit] Volcanic activity
Throughout the Little Ice Age, the world also experienced heightened
volcanic activity. When a volcano erupts, its ash reaches high into the
atmosphere and can spread to cover the whole earth. This ash cloud blocks
out some of the incoming solar radiation, leading to worldwide cooling
that can last up to two years after an eruption. Also emitted by
eruptions is sulfur in the form of SO2 gas. When this gas reaches the
stratosphere, it turns into sulfuric acid particles, which reflect the
sun's rays, further reducing the amount of radiation reaching the earth's
surface. The 1815 eruption of Tambora in Indonesia blanketed the
atmosphere with ash; the following year, 1816, came to be known as the
Year Without A Summer, when frost and snow were reported in June and July
in both New England and Northern Europe.

Wikipedia is not very accurate here. The ash falls out in a few weeks,
it is the SO2-caused sulphuric acid aerosol that lasts about two
years that causes the bulk of the cooling. (based upon the last major
eruptions being typical)
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/4/244...-2441-2004.pdf

The effect of a volcano can be very large but a relatively short lived
reduction in solar heating.