CONTINUED SCANT SOLAR ACTIVITY POINTS TO ERA OF PROLONGED COOLING UNSEEN FOR 400 YEARS

THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS THE LITTLE ICE AGE:

Science just ran with a significant story that is getting lots of press: Say goodbye to sunspots

Here’s a prominent excerpt:

The last solar minimum should have ended last year, but something peculiar has been happening. Although solar minimums normally last about 16 months, the current one has stretched over 26 months—the longest in a century. One reason, according to a paper submitted to the International Astronomical Union Symposium No. 273, an online colloquium, is that the magnetic field strength of sunspots appears to be waning.

… Scientists studying sunspots for the past 2 decades have concluded that the magnetic field that triggers their formation has been steadily declining. If the current trend continues, by 2016 the sun’s face may become spotless and remain that way for decades—a phenomenon that in the 17th century coincided with a prolonged period of cooling on Earth.

MORE ON LITTLE ICE AGE HERE:

... any of several dates ranging over 400 years may indicate the beginning of the Little Ice Age:

• 1250 for when Atlantic pack ice began to grow
• 1300 for when warm summers stopped being dependable in Northern Europe
• 1315 for the rains and Great Famine of 1315-1317
• 1550 for theorized beginning of worldwide glacial expansion
• 1650 for the first climatic minimum.

The prevailing scientific view is that the Little Ice Age ended in the latter half of the 19th century or early in the 20th century.^[9][10][11]

... Europe and North America

The Little Ice Age brought colder winters to parts of Europe and North America. Farms and villages in the Swiss Alps were destroyed by encroaching glaciers during the mid-17th century.^[16]

Canals and rivers in Great Britain and the Netherlands were frequently frozen deeply enough to support ice skating and winter festivals.^[16]

The first River Thames frost fair was in 1607; the last in 1814, although changes to the bridges and the addition of an embankment affected the river flow and depth, hence diminishing the possibility of freezes.

The freeze of the Golden Horn and the southern section of the Bosphorus took place in 1622.

In 1658, a Swedish army marched across the Great Belt to Denmark to invade Copenhagen.

The Baltic Sea froze over, enabling sledge rides from Poland to Sweden, with seasonal inns built on the way.^[17] The winter of 1794-1795 was particularly harsh when the French invasion army under Pichegru could march on the frozen rivers of the Netherlands, while the Dutch fleet was fixed in the ice in Den Helder harbour.

In the winter of 1780, New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island. Sea ice surrounding Iceland extended for miles in every direction, closing that island's harbors to shipping.

ER, UM... IT'S TIME TO CRANK UP OUR MAN-MADE CO2 EMISSIONS! HEH.