Topic: Is a mini ice age on the way?

[oldcoastie6468]

Is a mini ice age on the way? Scientists warn the Sun has 'gone to sleep' and say it could cause temperatures to plunge

2013 was due to be year of the 'solar maximum'

Researchers say solar activity is at a fraction of what they expect

Conditions 'very similar' a time in 1645 when a mini ice age hit 

By MARK PRIGG

PUBLISHED: 19:04 EST, 17 January 2014 | UPDATED: 06:47 EST, 18 January 2014

The Sun's activity is at its lowest for 100 years, scientists have warned.

They say the conditions are eerily similar to those before the Maunder Minimum, a time in 1645 when a mini ice age hit, Freezing London's River Thames.

Researcher believe the solar lull could cause major changes, and say there is a 20% chance it could lead to 'major changes' in temperatures.

Scroll down for video

THE SOLAR CYCLE

Conventional wisdom holds that solar activity swings back and forth like a simple pendulum.

At one end of the cycle, there is a quiet time with few sunspots and flares.

At the other end, solar max brings high sunspot numbers and frequent solar storms.

It’s a regular rhythm that repeats every 11 years.

Reality is more complicated.

Astronomers have been counting sunspots for centuries, and they have seen that the solar cycle is not perfectly regular.

'Whatever measure you use, solar peaks are coming down,' Richard Harrison of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire told the BBC.

'I've been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this.'

He says the phenomenon could lead to colder winters similar to those during the Maunder Minimum.

'There were cold winters, almost a mini ice age.

'You had a period when the River Thames froze.'

Lucie Green of UCL believes that things could be different this time due to human activity.

'We have 400 years of observations, and it is in a very similar to phase as it was in the runup to the Maunder Minimum.

'The world we live in today is very different, human activity may counteract this - it is difficult to say what the consequences are.'

Mike Lockwood University of Reading says that the lower temperatures could affect the global jetstream, causing weather systems to collapse.

'We estimate within 40 years there a 10-20% probability we will be back in Maunder Minimum territory,' he said.

Last year Nasa warned 'something unexpected' is happening on the Sun'

This year was supposed to be the year of 'solar maximum,' the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541599/Is-mini-ice-age-way-Scientists-warn-Sun-gone-sleep-say-cause-temperatures-plunge.html

[AlanS]

That sucks. I'll have to break down and get a wood stove to keep the wife warm.

[Libertas]

The Maunder Minimum was a drag, going through that again would suck...I wonder if our energy needs will cut the econuts off at the knees and we will fully utilize all our resources finally or will they expect people to afford several hundred dollars per month in utility bills to stay alive?  When it comes to smart or stupid choices stupid seems to be winning hands down...

[Pablo de Fleurs]

Not to worry. Each of us simply has to locate 1 cow...& feed 'em some of this



...we'll have things all het up in no time.

[Alphabet Soup]

Not to worry. Each of us simply has to locate 1 cow...& feed 'em some of this



...we'll have things all het up in no time.

Keep those matches in yer pocket 

[Glock32]

I wonder if they're now touting the idea of solar minimum as the convenient explanation for non-existent global warming. "Ah ha! See, manmade greenhouse gas is a problem, it's just being offset by the solar minimum."

[AlanS]

Not to worry. Each of us simply has to locate 1 cow...& feed 'em some of this



...we'll have things all het up in no time.

Keep those matches in yer pocket 

[Libertas]

Alan is a "monkey see, monkey do" kinda guy, eh?   

[Libertas]

I wonder if they're now touting the idea of solar minimum as the convenient explanation for nonexistent global warming. "Ah ha! See, manmade greenhouse gas is a problem, it's just being offset by the solar minimum."

They always have an excuse, almost exclusively imaginary ones!

How ironic these two-faced cultists are to blame something on something that has perhaps more say on our planets climate than any other in the universe for something that only exists in their fevered cultish minds!

   assholes!  I wish they would all spontaneously die!

[Glock32]

Seriously -- I can totally see this new solar data being their new explanation, and one that they can conveniently use for a decade or more.  "See, that's the only reason global temperatures haven't risen as predicted -- greenhouse gas pollution is still a big problem and as soon as the solar activity returns to normal temperatures are going to skyrocket. We should use this unexpected reprieve to get serious about reducing carbon emissions, because polar bears!"

[Libertas]

Once again...on the plus side...they don't have a decade...

[Pandora]

Seriously -- I can totally see this new solar data being their new explanation, and one that they can conveniently use for a decade or more.  "See, that's the only reason global temperatures haven't risen as predicted -- greenhouse gas pollution is still a big problem and as soon as the solar activity returns to normal temperatures are going to skyrocket. We should use this unexpected reprieve to get serious about reducing carbon emissions, because polar bears!"

Of course.  But.  They have neither the time more the money to indulge their bullsht.  As more and more folks catch on to the scam, more will disregard whatever crap regulations they pass.

And ...... there's always the hogpens.

[oldcoastie6468]

And ...... there's always the hogpens.

An excellent solution. No muss, no fuss, no evidence, no nuthin'.

[Libertas]

I see a nice bumper sticker in my head...

Got Hogs?!

[warpmine]

Can't remember the who but some Russian solar climatologist stated this about four years ago in that the normal solar cycle of 11 years will be 14-15 years now with minimal magnetic storm(sunspot) activity. He used funny little obscure things like facts and observations to make the conclusion. A heretic if there ever was one. Al Gore has but out a fatwa against him.

I don't know if we'll have enough of reduced radiation to trip a global mini ice age but if we have another banner year of vulcanism this year, we may just be heading into one. Stay in and punch the keyboard for a few days.

[Libertas]

IIRC I think one of the clues sun watchers focus on that raise concerns over entering another Maunder Minimum is the flipped polarity.  We'll have to see how that plays out into either the extended cycles your Rooskie mentions or the start of another MM.  An extended cycle would be the most desireable of any of the cooling scenarios thus far.

[warpmine]

IIRC I think one of the clues sun watchers focus on that raise concerns over entering another Maunder Minimum is the flipped polarity.  We'll have to see how that plays out into either the extended cycles your Rooskie mentions or the start of another MM.  An extended cycle would be the most desireable of any of the cooling scenarios thus far.

Unfortunately, the extended cycle and the MM isn't mutually exclusive which means they're probably one and the same. If it didn't cost me or my friends so much I would welcome it as punishment for the global whiners scaring everybody into cutting back but.....

[Libertas]

IIRC I think one of the clues sun watchers focus on that raise concerns over entering another Maunder Minimum is the flipped polarity.  We'll have to see how that plays out into either the extended cycles your Rooskie mentions or the start of another MM.  An extended cycle would be the most desireable of any of the cooling scenarios thus far.

Unfortunately, the extended cycle and the MM isn't mutually exclusive which means they're probably one and the same. If it didn't cost me or my friends so much I would welcome it as punishment for the global whiners scaring everybody into cutting back but.....

Likely...and umm, yeah...hate getting punished for something I didn't do...that pain should...ahh...be redistributed to its intended target!