A 92 per cent chance that Cycle 25 will be as weak as, or weaker than, the ‘Dalton minimum … perhaps as deep as the ‘Maunder minimum,’ says this article in The Daily Mail.
The Met Office has released new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 18 years.
The figures suggest that we could be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.
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Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
In fact, leading climate scientists yesterday told The Mail that, after emitting unusually high levels of energy throughout the 20th Century, the sun is now heading towards a ‘grand minimum,’ threatening cold summers, bitter winters and a shortening of the season available for growing food.
We are now at what should be the peak of what scientists call ‘Cycle 24.’ But sunspot numbers are running at less than half those during cycle peaks in the 20th Century.
Analysis by experts at NASA and the University of Arizona suggest that Cycle 25, whose peak is due in 2022, will be a great deal weaker still.
A 92 per cent chance that Cycle 25 will be as weak as, or weaker than, the ‘Dalton minimum’
According to a paper issued last week by the Met Office, there is a 92 per cent chance that both Cycle 25 and those taking place in the following decades will be as weak as, or weaker than, the ‘Dalton minimum’ of 1790 to 1830. In this period, named after the meteorologist John Dalton, average temperatures in parts of Europe fell by 2C.
However, it is also possible that the new solar energy slump could be as deep as the ‘Maunder minimum’ (after astronomer Edward Maunder), between 1645 and 1715 in the coldest part of the ‘Little Ice Age’ when, as well as the Thames frost fairs, the canals of Holland froze solid.
Meanwhile, since the end of last year, world temperatures have fallen by more than half a degree, as the cold ‘La Nina’ effect has re-emerged in the South Pacific.
See entire article, including several graphs:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2093264/Forget-global-warming–Cycle-25-need-worry-NASA-scientists-right-Thames-freezing-again.html
Thanks to J.H. Walker for this link
