A composite record of the Sun's total irradiance compiled from measurements made by five independent space-based radiometers since 1978 exhibits a prominent 11-year cycle with similar levels during 1986 and 1996, the two most recent minimum epochs of solar activity. This finding contradicts recent assertions of a 0.04% irradiance increase from the 1986 to 1996 solar minima and suggests that solar radiative output trends contributed little of the 0.2 ¿C increase in the global mean surface temperature in the past decade. Nor does our 18-year composite irradiance record support a recent upward irradiance trend inferred from solar cycle length, a parameter used to imply a close linkage in the present century between solar variability and climate change. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union