This settled science is all so confusing: Solar activity has been increasing, or not; furthermore, increased solar activity causes cooling, or warming

A stronger Sun actually cools the Earth - Telegraph

An increase in solar activity from the Sun actually cools the Earth, suggests new research that will renew the debate over the science behind climate change.
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However while this may support climate change sceptics' arguments in the short term, long term analysis suggests it actually provides further evidence that the heating of the planet is more than a natural, cyclical phenomenon.

Over the past century, overall solar activity has been increasing and should therefore cool the Earth, yet global temperatures have increased.

Professor Joanna Haigh, from Imperial College London, who led the study, said: "These results are challenging what we thought we knew about the sun's effect on our climate.

Declining solar activity linked to recent warming : Nature News

The Sun may have caused as much warming as carbon dioxide over three years.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers

The Sun is the dimmest it has been for nearly a century.

There are no sunspots, very few solar flares - and our nearest star is the quietest it has been for a very long time.
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Prof Lockwood was one of the first researchers to show that the Sun's activity has been gradually decreasing since 1985, yet overall global temperatures have continued to rise.