The Sun Will Be Cooler And Dimmer Soon In A Cycle That Once Turned Seas Into Ice


Sun

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A new scientific report is estimating that the sun will be cooler and dimmer soon. This fluctuation is part of a cycle for the sun, but scientists predict this upcoming cycle will be more severe than the usual variations. Our life-giving star is expected to encounter something called a “grand solar minimum,” which will have noticeable effects on Earth and alter weather patterns. Scientists forecast this particular minimum of solar activity to arrive by the year 2050.

The sun encounters regular cycles of solar minimums, where activity is low, and solar maximums, where the star is extremely active. Generally, these patterns alternate approximately every 11 years. However, a team of scientists led by physicist Dan Lubin of the University of California, San Diego, predict an upcoming grand solar minimum will be decidedly calmer than usual grand solar minimums. The researchers estimate that this upcoming solar minimum will be 7% less active than a typical solar minimum.

The study titled “Ultraviolet Flux Decrease Under a Grand Minimum from IUE Short-wavelength Observation of Solar Analogs,” was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The research states that the sun will be cooler and dimmer by 2050. The decreased activity means far fewer solar flares and sunspots, which equates to much less ultraviolet radiation being flung at Earth. This lower solar activity can affect our planet in different ways including changes in the thickness of the stratospheric ozone layer as well as lower temperatures.

One of the most severe grand solar minimums, named the “Maunder Minimum,” happened between 1645 and 1715. This caused temperatures on Earth to plummet so much that it turned seas into ice. The Baltic Sea was so covered in thick ice in 1658 that it allowed the Swedish army to march across the solid ice to invade Denmark. During the Maunder Minimum, the Thames River froze over in England. However, the cooling was not the same around the globe because the grand solar minimum actually caused warmer temperatures in Alaska and Greenland.

Lubin warns that the decrease in temperatures will not be enough to counter the expected models of climate change. “The cooling effect of a grand minimum is only a fraction of the warming effect caused by the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” a statement from the research team reads. Air temperatures on Earth’s surface would cool by as much as several tenths of a degree according to the study. “A future grand solar minimum could slow down but not stop global warming,” the study claims.

[FoxNews]