So is it global warming, with droughts/fires/hurricanes/disasters, or is it a little ice age?
Our sun has gone as blank as a cue ball. As in, it’s lost its spots.
According to scientists, this unsettling phenomenon is a sign we are heading for a mini ice age.
Meteorologist and renowned sun-watcher Paul Dorian raised the alarm in
his latest report, which has sparked a mild panic about an impending “Game of Thrones”-style winter not seen since the 17th century.
“For the second time this month, the sun has gone completely blank,” Dorian says.
“The blank sun is a sign that the next solar minimum is approaching and there will be an increasing number of spotless days over the next few years.
“During solar minimum, solar flares are almost non-existent while whole weeks go by without a single, tiny sunspot to break the monotony of the blank sun. This is what we are experiencing now.”
Given that the sun is the main driver of all weather and climate, the sinister-sounding “blankness” to which Dorian refers has some experts predicting a “Maunder Minimum” phase similar to one which began in 1645 and which is referred to as the “Little Ice Age.”
The Maunder Minimum, named after solar astronomer Edward Maunder, lasted for a brutal 70 years and conditions were so cold, the Thames froze over.
A slightly less intense ice age-like period called the Dalton Minimum — after British meteorologist John Dalton — arrived decades later and lasted from about 1790 to 1830.
So, given the series of 100 degree plus days we are having here, maybe we had better enjoy them, as there may be many fewer in the near future. Maybe the mastodons will make a reappearance. And cave bears. Yeah!
Winter is coming....
