Space Sciences Mini ice age on its way

[Second Summer]

The earth is 15 years from a "mini ice-age" that will cause bitterly cold winters during which rivers such as the Thames freeze over, scientists have predicted.

Solar researchers at the University of Northumbria have created a new model of the sun's activity which they claim produces "unprecedentedly accurate predictions".

More: Earth heading for 'mini ice age' within 15 years - Telegraph (11. July 2015)

Back in the day, during the previous mini ice age, they used to have a frost fair on the Thames.

Thames frost fair (1683 or 1684) by Thomas Wyke.


From the press release by the Royal Astronomical Society:

Looking ahead to the next solar cycles, the model predicts that the pair of waves become increasingly offset during Cycle 25, which peaks in 2022. During Cycle 26, which covers the decade from 2030-2040, the two waves will become exactly out of synch and this will cause a significant reduction in solar activity.

“In cycle 26, the two waves exactly mirror each other – peaking at the same time but in opposite hemispheres of the Sun. Their interaction will be disruptive, or they will nearly cancel each other. We predict that this will lead to the properties of a ‘Maunder minimum’,” said Zharkova. “Effectively, when the waves are approximately in phase, they can show strong interaction, or resonance, and we have strong solar activity. When they are out of phase, we have solar minimums. When there is full phase separation, we have the conditions last seen during the Maunder minimum, 370 years ago.”

 

[Second Summer]

A team of experts have warned that huge seismic events, including volcanic eruptions, plunging global temperatures and destabilisation of the Earth's crust will become more common after worrying changes to the surface of the Sun were recorded.

It could take up to 15 years for solar activity to return to normal with extreme weather and freezing temperatures continuing until 2035.

The warning will infuriate environmental campaigners who argue by 2030 the world faces increased sea levels and flooding due to glacial melt at the poles.

More: GLOBAL FREEZING: 15-year ICE AGE to hit in just 4 years as the sun prepares to 'HIBERNATE' (8. November 2016)

I'm not sure why this would "infuriate environmental campaigners". Global warming is still a serious threat, but this might delay its effects for long enough that we can invent and deploy new technology so we can avoid the worst of it.

It's interesting that lower solar activity seems to result in more violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

 

[GingerFoxx]

Scientifically speaking, we are technically still in an ice age. The last one never fully ended, we've just been on a bit of a hiatus.

 

[Second Summer]

Scientifically speaking, we are technically still in an ice age. The last one never fully ended, we've just been on a bit of a hiatus.

That's right, according to Wikipedia: "In the terminology of glaciology, ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres.[1] By this definition, we are in an interglacial period—the Holocene—of the ice age. The ice age began 2.6 million years ago at the start of the Pleistocene epoch, because the Greenland, Arctic, and Antarctic ice sheets still exist.[2]"

I just came across another article about the predicted mini-ice age:

A mathematical model of the Sun's magnetic activity suggests temperatures could start dropping here from 2021, with the potential for winter skating on the River Thames by 2030.

A team led by maths professor Valentina Zharkova at Northumbria University built on work from Moscow to predict the movements of two magnetic waves produced by the Sun.

More: Scientists predict 'mini ice age' could hit UK by 2030 (27 December 2017)
The cooling is supposed to start already by 2021 and last for 33 years.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

Are We Heading for a Mini-Ice Age in 2030?

As noted in the Washington Post‘s 14 July 2015 article (linked and excerpted above), the phrase “mini ice age” did not come from scientists. Moreover, Zharkova’s commentary was not peer-reviewed or published prior to its appearance in multiple media outlets.

 

[Second Summer]

Apparently, there are several news articles out again now about the "mini ice age", mostly published on less reputable web sites. There is no explanation as to why this story is considered news again now, which I find somewhat suspicious. Maybe it's just the cold weather we're having at the moment in the UK and some places in the US that has spurred the speculative media's interest in the story? Or, is it a more sinister reason, such as attempting to make people think addressing the greenhouse gas emissions issue isn't as urgent?