Out: Global Warming In: New Ice Age

The majority of the scientific community hasn't exactly latched onto the idea yet, but there appears to be more postulating that the Earth may be headed for colder times. Sunspots are declining-- just as they did in the late 1200s/early 1300s-- the time right before the Little Ice Age (which brought cooler temperatures, famine, and the Black Death). That came after the Medieval Warm Period.... where increased sunspots corresponded with higher temperatures-- just like during the 1900s.

So, in short: we're all going to die.

An immediate question is whether this slowdown presages a second Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period with virtually no sunspots [which occurred] during 1645-1715.

As NASA notes:

Early records of sunspots indicate that the Sun went through a period of inactivity in the late 17th century. Very few sunspots were seen on the Sun from about 1645 to 1715. Although the observations were not as extensive as in later years, the Sun was in fact well observed during this time and this lack of sunspots is well documented. This period of solar inactivity also corresponds to a climatic period called the "Little Ice Age" when rivers that are normally ice-free froze and snow fields remained year-round at lower altitudes. There is evidence that the Sun has had similar periods of inactivity in the more distant past.

Better buy a better jacket.

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