Little ice age may be on the way
Saturday, February 21, 2009, 07:301

The Siberian conditions which blasted Lincolnshire could be just a taste of
things to come, according to an amateur astronomer.

Dozens of schools shut down and many roads became impassable when clouds of
snow blew over from Russia earlier this month.
And Philip Norton believes there may be another two similar winters to come.

Mr Norton, a member of Lincoln Astronomical Society, says the outlook may be
bleak due to a lack of sunspot activity.
Sunspots visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun where magnetic
fields from within have risen up and broken through its surface.

When there are lots of sunspots there are fewer clouds on Earth. When all
the sunspots disappear, Earth gets cloudy - lowering temperatures.

The last time this happened, from about 1645 to 1715, in the middle of what
is referred to as the Little Ice Age, thousands perished in a succession of
harsh winters.

Mr Norton, a development engineer, of Thirsk Drive, North Hykeham, said that
it appeared history may be repeating itself.
"The Sun has had very few spots visible for over two years now and there was
a period in the Little Ice Age when there were few sunspots for decades and
it was unusually cold in the UK," he said.

"Some astronomers have been predicting for many years that this next cycle
will only be about two thirds as active as the previous one, then the Sun
will go quiet again for a few decades.

"The big question: as we usually get the coldest weather in February - two
months after the shortest day, do we also get cold winters two years after
the Sun goes quiet?

"In which case we could expect another two winters to come like this one."

For the full story see Saturday's Lincolnshire Echo.