Over the past couple of years the Sun has been entering a minimum in the 11-year solar cycle, a period when few sunspots are observed. While this minimum was expected, the lingering absence of observed sunspots as each month passes increases speculation that we could be entering a period of prolonged solar inactivity. Such periods have occurred in the past, and their impacts on global climate were significant, as low sunspot periods tended to cause global temperatures to decrease.