Monday, June 20, 2011

Now a Report Says We are Heading for a Mini Ice Age

Now comes word from a news report that a group of so-called “heavyweight” US solar physicists say the Sun may be entering a lengthy spell of low activity.  Because of this observation, these scientists are predicting that the earth may be headed into a mini Ice Age.

According to the report, three different analyses of the Sun’s activities indicate that the Sun is heading into a period of extremely low solar activity.  Scientists from the US National Solar Observatory and the US Air Force Research Laboratory suspect that the slowdown in sunspot activity may be a harbinger of a 70-year period with virtually no sunspots.  Some scientists believe that this period of solar inactivity could also correspond with a “Little Ice Age” when rivers that normally are ice-free tend to freeze over and snow fields can remain year-round in the areas closer to the north and south poles.

Where did I read this story?  Well, it wasn’t in The New York Time, but it did appear in a British newspaper called The Register.  Imagine that?  I had to read about the findings of prestigious US scientists in a British newspaper.  Why?  Is this just another indication that the liberal main stream media in the United States is so wedded to the concept of global warming and climate change that they would ignore these findings?

As for me, I just look at this report as just another bit of information from a never ending litany of reports on future climate trends that predict all kind of outcomes.  It may have some validity, or it may involve a little exaggeration in order to get attention for the scientist's research.  I am not knowledgeable enough about weather and climate to know if these findings are a true barometer of things to come.

Over the course of my lifetime, I have heard all kind of predictions from very well-educated scientists.  Researchers with very impressive credentials are convinced we are heading for a global meltdown, while other researchers with equally impressive academic and professional portfolios are just as convinced that global warming is a scam.

No matter where you stand on the issue of global warming, or climate change as it is now called, there are certain facts you should consider.  The earth is believed to be approximately 4.5 billion years old.  The earliest records of temperature measured by thermometers are from Western Europe beginning in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Given the earth is billions of years old, and we only have what we would consider accurate records to be less than 200 years old, how can even the most zealous advocate claim a definite trend?

So now we have a new report that says we are heading for a much colder period.  I have no idea if the research of the solar observers is legitimate.  However, if their predictions turn out to be accurate, then I am glad I live in the desert of Arizona instead of Chicago where I experienced enough brutally cold winters to last a lifetime.

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