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Abstract
Jan-Erik Solheim, Kjell Stordahl and Ole Humlum (hereafter SSH) published two articles in 2011 and 2012 about the relationship between the mean temperature in a solar cycle and the length of the previous solar cycle [1, 2]. For the northern hemisphere, they found a negative correlation between those two variables. A long solar cycle is followed by one with a low temperature, and a short solar cycle is followed by one with a high temperature. SSH named this the Previous Solar Cycle Length Model. For simplicity, in this note I refer to it as the Solar Cycle Model or just the model. For the same reason, I usually omit the word mean when referring to the mean temperature in a solar cycle.
SSH claim that their model describes a cause-effect relationship, i.e. that it has predictive power. Solar cycle 24 had just started when they wrote their articles. SSH predicted a significant temperature decrease in solar cycle 24. That solar cycle has just ended, and now it is possible to check if their prediction came true. It did not.
The temperatures fitted well with the Solar Cycle Model until the mid-1970s, but not later. The mean temperatures during the last solar cycles have been much higher than predicted by the model.
