We have already beaten the record for 2009 at 261 days with no sunspots. 2008 is the next goalpost - there were 268 days with no sunspots and we have 23 days left in this year.
As an example, there were zero days without sunspots in 2015, 2013 and 2012. This is an incredibly deep solar niminum.
Sunspots are an excellent proxy for solar output - the more sunspots, the warmer it is on Earth (and all other planets - we can see the Martian icecaps grow and shrink). Another aspect of the quiet sun is that the lower solar output means more cosmic rays hitting earth. The solar wind acts as a shield when it hits our magnetic field. Here is an excerpt of the neutron count from 1965 through current recorded at the Oulu Observatory in Finland:
Heading towards some cold cold weather...
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