The global temperature anomaly and solar North-South asymmetry

We investigate whether the global temperature anomaly is associated with the solar North-South asymmetry using data archived approximately for five solar cycles. We are motivated by both the accumulating evidence for the connection of Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) to the cloud coverage and recent finding of the association of GCR influx and the solar North-South asymmetry. We have analyzed the data of the observed sunspot, the GCR influx observed at the Moscow station, and the global temperature anomaly. We have found that the mean global temperature anomaly is systematically smaller (∼0.56 in the unit of its standard deviation) during the period when the solar northern hemisphere is more active than the solar southern hemisphere. The difference in the mean value of the global temperature anomaly for the two data sets sub-sampled according to the solar North-South asymmetry is large and statistically significant. We suggest the solar North-South asymmetry is related to the global temperature anomaly through modulating the amount of GCR influx. Finally, we conclude by discussing its implications on a climate model and a direction of future work.