Getting Ready for Little Ice Age? Scientists Predicts Very Cold Weather Cycle in 2030

According to University of Northumbria solar researchers, their climate model shows a pending “mini ice age” set for the 2030s. The little ice age perios will mirror freezing conditions that occurred during the late 17th century.

Prof Valentina Zharkova said fluid movements within the sun, which are thought to create 11-year cycles in the weather, will converge in such a way that temperatures will fall dramatically in the 2030s.

“[In the cycle between 2030 and around 2040] the two waves exactly mirror each other – peaking at the same time but in opposite hemispheres of the sun,” she said.

“Their interaction will be disruptive, or they will nearly cancel each other.

“We predict that this will lead to the properties of a ‘Maunder minimum'”.

Maunder minimum, indicating low sunspot activity, was the name given to the period between 1645 and 1715, when Europe and North America experienced very cold winters.

“Over the cycle, the waves fluctuate between the northern and southern hemispheres of the Sun. Combining both waves together and comparing to real data for the current solar cycle, we found that our predictions showed an accuracy of 97 per cent.”