Timothy Birdnow

A second little ice age is coming.

How cold? Estimates, based on a study of prior sunspot reductions approaching a grand minimum phase, are that we’ll witness a 7 percent drop in the Sun’s light and heat — and recall, that’s 7 percent lower than the lowest of the 11-year cycle that we typically see.

Such a great minimum happened around the middle of the 17th century. Known as the "Maunder Minimum” (from the names of 2 well respected solar astronomers of the time, Anne Russel Maunder and Edward Walter Maunder), the corresponding cold temperatures saw the river Thames freeze, and the Baltic Sea as well — which permitted a Swedish army to infiltrate Denmark by rushing across the ice.

At the same time, Alaska and Southern Greenland warmed, due to the weakening of the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, which modifies wind and weather conditions throughout the planet.

The exact timing and intensity of the disaster are still in discussion, but the indicators all point to things bottoming out around the year 2050. It might start as soon as 2030, however. Just for context, the Maunder Minimum lasted from 1645 to roughly 1715.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 11:09 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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