Scientists Predict New Ice Age By 2019 As Sun 'Goes Blank'

NASA

A series of images released by NASA have sparked concerns that the Earth could be heading for a mini ice age.

Photographs of the sun show that the star’s sunspots have vanished, with the normally volatile surface appearing relatively calm, reports the Daily Star.

This is the fourth time this year the sun’s face has appeared smooth, with experts saying solar activity is falling more rapidly than any time in the last 10,000 years.

Early in the morning of Sept. 1, 2016, our Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, caught both Earth and the moon crossing in front of the sun. SDO keeps a constant eye on the sun, but during SDO's semiannual eclipse seasons, Earth briefly blocks SDO's line of sight each day – a consequence of SDO's geosynchronous orbit. On Sept. 1, Earth completely eclipsed the sun from SDO's perspective just as the moon began its journey across the face of the sun. The end of the Earth eclipse happened just in time for SDO to catch the final stages of the lunar transit. Image Credit: NASA/SDO #nasa #sun #sdo #earth #nasabeyond #astronomy #science
A post shared by NASA (@nasa) on Sep 3, 2016 at 4:45am PDT

This large reduction in sunspot activity could mean the Earth is about to enter a cold phase – the last time sunspots vanished at such a rapid rate marked the centuries-long ‘ice age’ that began in the 15th century.

Meteorologist Paul Dorian believes this sharp decline in solar activity could be a sign another ice age is coming.

Getty

He said:

It is safe to say that weak solar activity for a prolonged period of time can have a cooling impact on the troposphere, the bottom most layer of Earth’s atmosphere – where we all live.

Dorian’s views are backed up by research headed by Professor Valentina Zharkov of Northumbria University suggesting a cold snap will hit Earth between 2020 and 2050.

Flickr

Prof Zharkov said:

I am absolutely confident in our research. It has good mathematical background and reliable data, which has been handled correctly.
Our results can be repeated by any researchers with the similar data available in many solar observatories, so they can derive their own evidence.

It could be time to get into the scarf manufacturing game…

UNILAD

Scientists Predict New Ice Age By 2019 As Sun ‘Goes Blank’

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Daily Star