A new study looks set to fundamentally change the debate about anthropogenic climate change. A favorite argument of climate change skeptics, linking increasing temperatures to increasing solar output, has been turned on its head.

British and Swiss researchers, writing in the Proceedings of the British Royal Society, show that solar output has actually fallen over the last twenty years, even as average global temperatures have risen.

The scientists also investigated the claim that solar emissions might have an influence on cosmic rays which, in turn, would affect the climate. And once again they found that the hypothesis didn’t hold water.

Interestingly the research was prompted, at least in part, by the claims of climate change skeptics. Particularly some of the team were motivated by claims made in the documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, which included the cosmic ray theory.

More on this story is available from Reuters and the BBC