NASA experts fear a repeat of the “Dalton minimum”, which wreaked havoc two centuries ago
As if 2020 wasn’t scary enough already, scientists are now warning of an alleged blockage in solar activity, which could cause icy weather, earthquakes, and famine.
The star is currently in a period of “solar minimum”, which means that activity on its surface has dropped dramatically, naturally, according to the diagnosis.
“The solar minimum is running and is deep,” said astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips, quoted by the British newspaper The Sun.
Experts believe that we are about to enter the deepest period of “recession” of sunlight ever known since sunspots have practically disappeared.
“Sunspot counts suggest it is one of the deepest in the last century. The sun’s magnetic field has weakened, allowing additional cosmic rays in the solar system, “said Phillips.
“The excess of cosmic rays represents a health hazard from astronauts and polar travelers, it affects the electrochemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere and can help trigger lightning. “
NASA scientists fear it may be a repeat of the Dalton’s minimum, which occurred between 1790 and 1830, which led to periods of brutal cold, loss of crops, famine and powerful volcanic eruptions.
During that time, temperatures fell by up to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) for 20 years, devastating world food production.
On April 10, 1815, the second largest volcanic eruption in 2,000 years occurred on Mount Tambora in Indonesia, killing at least 71,000 people. It also led to the call “Year without summer” in 1816, when there was snow in July.
So far in 2020 the sun has been “blank” without sunspots 76% of the time, a rate that it only exceeded once before in the Space Age, last year, when it was 77% blank.
The sun has entered a ‘lockdown’ period, which could cause freezing weather, famine https://t.co/kj95t52Gbj pic.twitter.com/JQXI4eTXoe
– New York Post (@nypost) May 14, 2020
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