The Sun or CO₂: which is a better fit?

At this week’s International Conference on Climate Change sponsored by the Heartland Institute and co-sponsored by the John Locke Foundation, climate scientist Dr. Willie Soon discussed the possibility that the temperature variations over the last 120 years is better explained by changes in solar radiation (the sun) than increasing carbon dioxide concentrations.

The pair of graphs below, from Soon’s PowerPoint presentation, looks at changes in Arctic temperatures and correlates them with both variables. You decide which is the better fit (click on the image for the full size):

The picture is similar for global temperatures.

(For Soon’s entire presentation click here and go to Tuesday 7-8:30 AM.)