Jed Fischer

According to the experts there is another dimension to the Grand Solar Minimum. This is to do with the solar wind decreasing as the sun goes quiet. This leaves the earth more susceptible to bombardment from cosmic rays. Also UV drops. Apparently these issues affects not only cloud formation but also the frequency of volcanic eruptions. If this is true, then there is a positive feedback effect all helping to cool the planet. Interestingly we are seeing a few eruptions at the moment.

The current solar cycle (cycle 24) is about to reach it's minimum point. Nothing special about that because according to the consistent cycle it has followed for as long as the sun has been monitored it will do so every 11 years. What is significant however is that according to the research of the Valentina Zharkova and her team, we are also on the cusp of a Grand Solar Minimum, which has a cycle of roughly 350-400 years according to her mathematical models. Her models accurately coincide with the last time the sun went though a Grand Minimum and this was an event that we know of called The Maunder Minimum. This was an period of below average temperatures in Northern Europe, more commonly known as the little ice age. Below is a link to her work. Some of the work is very mathematical which is not surprising as Zharkova is an applied mathematician at Northumbria University. Here is one of the most important graphs in my opinion. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep15689