Believe it or not, the answer has been around for a long time, but nobody listens to the astronomers. Its cyclic variation in solar output. Right now, the sun has zero sunspots so this winter will be a cold one. You heard it here first:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/activity/sunspot_history.html&edu=high
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/activity/sunspot_history.html&edu=high