Major Drop In Solar Activity Predicted

[Richard O'Neill]

On 6/27/2011 12:25 PM, Thomas F Davis wrote:
> May I ask, what dire predictions?
>

  Sure, here's one for starters.

"The Maunder Minimum was not the beginning of The Little Ice Age---it 
actually began about 1300 AD---but it marked perhaps the bitterest part 
of the cooling. Temperatures dropped ~4º C (~7 º F) in ~20 years in 
mid-to high latitudes. The colder climate that ensued for several 
centuries was devastating. The population of Europe had become dependent 
on cereal grains as their main food supply during the Medieval Warm 
Period and when the colder climate, early snows, violent storms, and 
recurrent flooding swept Europe, massive crop failures occurred. Winters 
in Europe were bitterly cold, and summers were rainy and too cool for 
growing cereal crops, resulting in widespread famine and disease. About 
a third of the population of Europe perished."

"Glaciers all over the world advanced and pack ice extended southward in 
the North Atlantic. Glaciers in the Alps advanced and overran farms and 
buried entire villages. The Thames River and canals and rivers of the 
Netherlands frequently froze over during the winter. New York Harbor 
froze in the winter of 1780 and people could walk from Manhattan to 
Staten Island. Sea ice surrounding Iceland extended for miles in every 
direction, closing many harbors. The population of Iceland decreased by 
half and the Viking colonies in Greenland died out in the 1400s because 
they could no longer grow enough food there. In parts of China, warm 
weather crops that had been grown for centuries were abandoned. In North 
America, early European settlers experienced exceptionally severe winters."

More:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/tag/maunder-minimum/
http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/2011/06/17/possible-consequences-of-the-coming-solar-minimum/


>
>  The shortwave bands will not be open for decades, and the growing 
> season will be shorter in northern latitudes, but that's about it.  We 
> survived it then, and we'll survive this.
>
> Tom W1TFD
>

  Predicting the future is frequently fraught with error. Even if true I 
fully expect our species to endure. (After all, we are the clever ones - 
at least by half.) =-O However, our numbers could be somewhat diminished 
as a consequence.

Richard
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