... There have been periods through history when the Sun has had little to no activity on its surface, most recently as the start of this year (January 2014). ... With this in mind sunspots do affect the Earth in other ways and in fact they affect the ionosphere which is the very upper layer of the EarthтАЩs atmosphere.€а When there is a high amount of activity, a large amount of matter from the Sun is released in the form of a тАШsolar windтАЩ or coronal mass ejections also known as solar flares. ...