A SCARY claim that Earth is about to enter a "Mini Ice Age" for 30 years is probably wrong, according to top scientists.

One researcher warned that the Sun entering a natural "hibernation" would trigger food shortages and temperature slumps – but current data suggests this is completely untrue.

3 The Sun constantly blasts Earth with radiation, but is entering a 'quiet' phase in 2020 Credit: Getty - Contributor

One study previously suggested that Earth was bracing for a solar minimum: A quiet period in which the Sun fires less energy – or, heat – at our planet than usual.

According to Nasa, the Sun was forecast to reach its lowest activity in over 200 years in 2020.

But more recent data obtained by the NOAA in December suggests this will no longer be the case.

That puts to bed a widely disputed claim by Northumbria University expert Valentina Zharkova, who told The Sun she would expect average temperatures around the world to drop as much as 1C.

3 A recent cold snap in Canada saw the mercury plummet to -50C, but there's no evidence to suggest this is proof of an imminent 'Mini Ice Age' Credit: Rex Features

"The Sun is approaching a hibernation period," Professor Zharkova, who has published multiple scientific papers on solar minimums, told The Sun.

"Less sunspots will be formed on the solar surface and thus less energy and radiation will be emitted towards the planets and the Earth."

But these claims are disputed by NOAA scientist Doug Biesecker.

He said: "There is no evidence we are headed into a grand minimum. With Cycle 25 predicted to be similar to Cycle 24 [2009-2020], we do not see anything approaching a grand minimum, at least not in the near future.

"What we cannot say is what Cycle 26 will look like—mainly because no one has a demonstrated method for predicting that far ahead."

Solar minimums are part of the Sun's natural life cycle and occur once every 11 years. However, Nasa previously stated that 2020's solar cycle would be the weakest of the past 200 years.

Professor Zharkova told The Sun that it could mark a Grand Solar Minimum, in which energy emitted from the Sun drops even more than usual – claims dismissed by the general scientific community.

These only occur once every 400 years or so, and are typically harmless.

Professor Zharkova erroneously warned icy spells and wet summers could persist until solar activity picks up again in 2053.

She listed recent unusual chills in Canada and Iceland as evidence of the Grand Solar Minimum (GSM) already taking hold, although these claims are disputed.

"The reduction in temperature will results in cold weathers on Earth, wet and cold summers, cold and wet winters," she told The Sun.

"We will possibly get big frosts as is happening now in Canada where they see [temperatures] of -50C.

The Sun – all the facts you need to know What is it, why does it exist, and why is it so ruddy hot all the time? The Sun is a huge star that lives at the centre of our solar system

It's a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, and provides most of the energy for life on Earth

It measures a staggering 865,000 miles across – making it 109 times bigger than Earth

But its weight is 330,000 times that of Earth, and accounts for almost all of the mass in the Solar System

The Sun is mostly made up of hydrogen (73%), helium (25%) and then a number of other elements like oyxgen, carbon and iron

Its surface temperature is around 5,505C

Scientists describe the Sun as being "middle-aged"

The Sun formed 4.6billion years ago, and tt's been in its current state for around four billion years

It's expected that it will remain stable for another five billion years

It doesn't have enough mass to explode as a supernova

Instead, we expect it to turn a hulking red giant

During this phase, it will be so big that it will engulf Mercury, Venus and Earth

Eventually it will turn into an incredibly hot white dwarf, and will stay that way for trillions of years

"But this is only the start of GSM, there is more to come in the next 33 years."

The last GSM was the Maunder Minimum, which lasted from 1645 to 1715.

During this period, temperatures across much of the Northern Hemisphere "plunged" and the brightness of the Sun decreased slightly, according to Nasa.

This period saw famous waterways like the Thames and Amsterdam's canals freeze regularly – events that are rare today.

While the Maunder Minimum occurred during a GSM, most scientists think several factors contributed to the cold snap.

The biggest was most likely plumes of ash coughed out by a series of giant volcanic eruptions during the 17th Century.

Professor Zharkova, who is a controversial figure in the scientific community, claimed: "We can only hope that the mini ice age will not be as severe as it was during the Maunder Minimum.

"This would dramatically affect food harvests in middle latitudes, because the vegetables and fruits will not have enough time for harvesting.

"So it could lead to a food deficit for people and animals, as we seen in the past couple of years when the snow in Spain and Greece in April and May demolished they veggie fields, and the UK had a deficit of broccoli, and other fruits and veggies."

3 A GSM would usually result in fewer 'Sun spots' appearing at the surface of our star Credit: AFP or licensors

Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom. Even if a GSM were to occur, most experts believe that they have little effect on our climate.

As the Maunder Minimum was likely triggered by an unlike combination of several factors, the upcoming GSM will probably have no impact on global temperatures, solar scientist Mathew Owens told The Sun.

We're also expecting global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions to significantly increase average temperatures in the coming decades.

"The small reduction in the Sun's energy associated with a solar minimum is vastly offset by effects caused by human activity, such as CO2 in the atmosphere," Professor Owens, of Reading University, said.

"Thus there will probably be no detectable effect on global climate."

Georg Feulner, a senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in 2015: "While regional and seasonal effects might be larger, the expected global temperature response to a future grand solar minimum similar to the Maunder Minimum is a cooling of about 0.1C.

"It should be pointed out that this cooling would occur on the background of current anthropogenic warming which is about a factor of 10 larger.

"To claim that temperatures will fall dramatically is thus not really justified."

An earlier version of this article did not make clear that Professor Zharkova's claims are widely disputed by the scientific community. This article also made reference to outdated data that has since been superseded by NOAA findings.

Astonishing new high resolution images of the sun's surface are the most detailed ever taken

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