date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 02:52:17 -0000 from: hilst-epsl@mit.edu subject: Reviewer Invitation for EPSL-D-07-00142 to: Ms. Ref. No.: EPSL-D-07-00142 Title: Evidence for Solar Forcing in Variability of Temperatures in Europe Authors: Jean-Louis Le Mouël; Elena Blanter; Mikhail Shnirman; Vincent Emmanuel Courtillot, PhD Journal: Earth and Planetary Science Letters Dear Dr. Phil Jones, I would very much appreciate your help with evaluating the above-mentioned manuscript, which has been submitted for publication in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The abstract is attached below. The authors have been taking a controversial view on this important topic, but I would very much like to know if their analysis is scientifically sound and if the conclusions, even when provocative, are supported by the data shown. Could you please let me know if you are available to review this manuscript? If you are, please click on the link below: http://ees.elsevier.com/epsl/l.asp?i=17795&l=95KD0SVK If you accept this invitation, I would be very grateful if you would return your review within 21 days. If you are not available to review this manuscript, please click on the link below. We would appreciate receiving suggestions for alternative reviewers: http://ees.elsevier.com/epsl/l.asp?i=17794&l=9OD6HGQD If you prefer, you may register your response to this invitation online, by accessing the Elsevier Editorial System for Earth and Planetary Science Letters as a REVIEWER: url: http://ees.elsevier.com/epsl/ Your username is: PJones-929 Your password is: jones26322 Please select the "New Invitations" link on your Main Menu, then choose to "Accept" or "Decline" this invitation, as appropriate. If you accept this invitation, you may submit your completed review online at the above URL. There you will find spaces for confidential comments to the editor and comments for the author. To assist you in the reviewing process, I am delighted to offer you full access to Scopus* for 30 days. With Scopus you can search for related articles, references and papers by the same author. You may also use Scopus for your own purposes at any time during the 30-day period. If you already use Scopus at your institute, having this 30 day full access means that you will also be able to access Scopus from home. Access instructions will follow once you have accepted this invitation to review *Scopus is the world's largest abstract and citation database of research information and quality internet sources. With kind regards, Rob D. van der Hilst Editor Earth and Planetary Science Letters ABSTRACT: Application of a novel nonlinear filtering technique to time series of daily temperatures in 48 meteorological stations from Europe yields the "lifetime" (akin to "correlation time") of temperature curves. This lifetime displays sharp primary and lesser secondary maxima at the times of extrema in sunspot number. A phase shift occurs around 1960, when primary maxima of temperature lifetimes shift from sunspot maxima to minima. This may correspond to a major change in state of the solar engine. Although the worldwide validity of these observations remains to be demonstrated, these strong correlations emphasise the role of the Sun as the forcing factor of a significant part of the global temperature signal.