I’m veering into territory that Borepatch is far better at covering, but it’s not the first time I’ve veered into Terra Incognito and it’s likely not the last.

I’ve read two interesting articles about global climate change, and neither one is particularly encouraging.

The first, BREAKING – major AAS solar announcement: Sun’s Fading Spots Signal Big Drop in Solar Activity tells us that sun spot activity, thought to be related to global temperatures right here on Earth is headed for a drop. Not only a drop, but a decades long drop in activity. If that’s true we might be heading for another Little Ice Age,

During the Little Ice Age, average global temperatures were 1-1.5 degree Celsius (2-3 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than they are today. The cooler temperatures were caused by a combination of less solar activity and large volcanic eruptions. Cooling caused glaciers to advance and stunted tree growth. Livestock died, harvests failed, and humans suffered from famine and disease.

“Less solar activity and large volcanic eruptions.” Anyone notice that we’ve had more and larger volcanic eruptions over the past few years?

Here is the original press release from the American Astronomical Society  “All three of these lines of research to point to the familiar sunspot cycle shutting down for a while.”

“If we are right,” Hill concluded, “this could be the last solar maximum we’ll see for a few decades. That would affect everything from space exploration to Earth’s climate.”

From another article about this,

Early records of sunspots indicate that the Sun went through a period of inactivity in the late 17th century. Very few sunspots were seen on the Sun from about 1645 to 1715. Although the observations were not as extensive as in later years, the Sun was in fact well observed during this time and this lack of sunspots is well documented. This period of solar inactivity also corresponds to a climatic period called the “Little Ice Age” when rivers that are normally ice-free froze and snow fields remained year-round at lower altitudes. There is evidence that the Sun has had similar periods of inactivity in the more distant past.

If this is true, and there is some, if little doubt, then we are headed for a period of Global Cooling that we had better start preparing for. “Greening” the Earth by foolishness like Carbon Credits, CFL light bulbs, and closing or preventing power plants of any type from being built, is a fool’s errand. We are going to need electricity, and lots of it, if we are going to survive the cold decades that are likely to be coming at us.

The big consequences of a major solar calm spell, however, would be climatic. The next few generations of humanity might not find themselves trying to cope with global warming but rather with a significant cooling. This could overturn decades of received wisdom on such things as CO2 emissions, and lead to radical shifts in government policy worldwide.

It should, but will it? Are politicians and the left too wedded to the now disproved theories of man made global warming? Will they continue to try to mislead the public into thinking that we need to cut back on oil production, stop building nuclear power plants, and live a life less comfortable than our parents and grandparents? I’m a cynic, so I doubt our political betters will do anything until they have no choice. Well, unless we decide to elect a better class of politicians.