Sometime in the future, around 15 years from now, the sun will “go to sleep”; the lack of solar energy from the sun will greatly affect the Earth and could cause a number of problems. Aside from freezing our rivers and lakes, this could cause problems in agriculture – meaning, we could have problems with our food supply!
An Alarming Announcement
Prof Valentina Zharkova made the announcement at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales in the United Kingdom. Zharkova is part of the team of scientists studying the sun these past years.
The sun has cycles that last for around 11 years. Waves and chemical reactions inside the sun are the ones responsible for major solar activity that keeps the sun alive.
According to a model the team created, solar waves that are not normally in synch will have the same properties that mirror each other when Sun Cycle 25 ends and Sun Cycle 26 begins. These will waves be set in opposite hemispheres of the Sun. As both peak at the same time, they will effectively cancel each other out. When this happens, solar flares and sun activities will be kept to a minimum that there is high likelihood a lot of the Earth’s water bodies will freeze.
Dubbed as a “mini Ice Age”, this period might keep plenty of rivers frozen – the same way the River Thames froze back in the mini Ice Age which occurred from around 1646 to 1715.
The Sleeping Sun
A lot of people believe that Zharkova is wrong yet her announcement came with scientific data backed by decades of research. The team did not just observe the sun but combed through data taken from three solar cycles beginning 1976 to 2008, from Wilcox Solar Observatory in California. Using this data, they were able to create a model that appears to be quite accurate.
The likelihood of a mini ice age happening in 2030 is high, based on the team’s observations and research.
We could only hope we’ll be able to survive this upcoming cold period in the history of the world.
Source: Daily Mail UK