That poor old sun

According to the news, the sun is cooling down. There is very little in the way of solar activity such as sunspots or solar flares, and some people believe that this may lead us into a period of global cooling. Last time the sun was observed to behave in this way was in the 17th century and preceded a mini ice age. Having said that, there is as yet no evidence to support this theory and global temperatures continue to rise.
Today is a lovely spring day with little wind and in the best spots in the garden it is very warm, insects abound and plants are growing rapidly. i don't particularly want to think about falling temperatures right now, and although astronomers must find the solar rest period fascinating, I'd rather focus on the next few months when we can at least hope for some spring and summer.
It can only be a matter of time before the fundamentalists get hold of the story however and claim that some entity has turned down the heating as a counter to global warming. It is so easy to take events such as this and through a deep misunderstanding of any scientific principle, explain things away through the actions of one's invisible friend.
There is no doubt that global temperatures are on the increase. What is not so certain is the cause. Greenhouse gases are a probable trigger but it is also possible that we are experiencing natural cyclic weather fluctuations that may have causes not necessarily associated with that. It may be a cynical way of looking at things, but to convince the world that we can counteract these changes by reducing fuel consumption may have more to do with the looming crisis of not being able to provide fossil fuel at the rate that the population demands it.
What is clear is that largely, the climate is something that man has never been able to control. We are here as the result of a series of accidents that produced self replicating molecules, which through mutation after mutation and the process of natural selection, led to what we see as a pinnacle of evolution. We have not been here long in terms of Earth history and it is possible that we may not be here for much longer. It is comforting to some to believe that we are here for a purpose, but that to me seems to be the equivalent of a fairy tale. I take my comfort in having no purpose whatsoever.

(ps - I'll be interested to see what ads pop up today, especially if i throw in some random words such as - Teddy bear, Peanuts, handbrake, lemmings, prostitution, Tomb raider, Police, Hungary, Canadian Dollar - please keep clicking the ads!)