The Chicago Tribune re-states its theory on this subject as follows:
The presence of sun spots this year causes an average reduction of about two degrees of Fahrenheit in the amount of heat supplied to the earth by the sun.
The necessary effect of this will be a diminished evaporation from the ocean and this will be evident in a lessened rain-fall on the land.
About two-fifths of all the heat received by the earth from the sun is carried off by evaporation, 972 degrees of heat being rendered latent in the conversion of water into vapor. With a small rain-fall, very little calorie is carried off in this way, and a much larger proportion of the solar heat than usual is retained in the ground, and remains in the lower strata of the atmosphere. Hence there will be a much greater degree of sensible heat on many parts of the land surface of the earth, as a consequence of a lessened supply to the whole globe.
The deductions, above given as well as those not here stated, have all been accurately verified by the facts–so for it is probable that the writer, who is not a mere dreamer, but has made the physical sciences the subjects of a life study, has made a discovery in this direction, which will be recognized as such by the scientific world. It is probable that he will ere long put the results of his researches in a more permanent form than that of a newspaper column.
Point 1 is interesting. According to an article from NOAA, sunspots are correlated with a (slight) increase in energy from the sun. Perhaps measuring methods were different?
Also according to the NOAA article, the scientific community is still trying to figure out (read: agree) on what effect sunspots have on Earth’s climate. Sure there are more auroras, but the rest is still unclear.
Our reporter/scientist sounds like he might be interested in a community of amateur scientists. Unfortunately, the lack of attribution bites me again, and I have no way to find out who this researcher is.