A Nasa scientist has said a current slowdown in sunspot activity could cause temperatures in the upper layer of our atmosphere to plummet.

Other researchers have previously warned that the lack of sunspots could herald the arrival of a uniquely grim ‘mini Ice Age’.

But the Nasa scientist went on to say that the trend he sees is overall global warming, not cooling, and insisted this ‘solar minimum’ does not mean the world is going to shiver through a depressingly long winter.

‘We see a cooling trend,’ Martin Mlynczak of Nasa’s Langley Research Center told Space Weather.


‘High above Earth’s surface, near the edge of space, our atmosphere is losing heat energy.

‘If current trends continue, it could soon set a Space Age record for cold.’



‘It could happen in a matter of months,’ Mlynczak added.

Sunspot activity follows a cycle which is believed to last 11 years as the number of patches peaks and drops.

There have been very few spots on the sun for most of this year.

An image taken earlier this year showing the surface of our star without sunspots (Picture: Nasa)

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Earlier this year, Nasa released a picture showing the blank face of the sun looking more like a snooker ball than the roiling surface of a super-hot star.

The sun is predicted to reach its solar minimum in 2019 or 2020, according to Nasa’s calculations.

Perhaps the most famous period of low sunspot activity was the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century.

During that time, there was a ‘little ice age’ when the Thames froze over, although researchers believe that global warming will stop this happening again.

Solar minimum may enhance the effects of space weather, disrupt communications and navigation, and even cause space junk to ‘hang around’, Nasa said.

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Last year, a scientist claimed the chilling effect on the lack of sunspots could actually save us from global warming – although her claims were hotly disputed.

Valentina Zharkova, a professor of mathematics at Northumbria University, published a paper which contains ‘the first serious prediction of a reduction of solar activity that might affect human lives’.

‘I hope global warming will be overridden by this effect, giving humankind and the Earth 30 years to sort out our pollution,’ she said.

Michael Brown, an associate professor of astronomy at Monash University in Australia, said the Maunder Minimum could have been caused by other factors including the eruptions of volcanos.

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He does not believe a mini Ice Age is enough to save us from manmade climate change.

‘There is 40% more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the air now than during the 17th century, and global temperature records are being smashed,’ he said.

‘A new Maunder Minimum would slow climate change, but it is not enough to stop it.’

After this article was published, Martin Mlynczak issued the following statement to Climate Feedback: ‘The cooling effects we are seeing in Earth’s thermosphere are a result of the current solar minimum conditions.



‘The thermosphere is the layer of Earth’s atmosphere beginning 65 miles above Earth’s surface and is highly sensitive to solar activity.

‘There is no relationship between the natural cycle of cooling and warming in the thermosphere and the weather/climate at Earth’s surface. NASA and other climate researchers continue to see a warming trend in the troposphere, the layer of atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface.

‘There is no inconsistency between the science findings of a warming troposphere [where we live] and the Thermosphere Climate Index.’

Update: This article has been amended since initial publication to remove the erroneous suggestion that the possibly record-breaking cooling of the thermosphere, located over 100km above the surface of the Earth, would have the effect on the troposphere of ‘a mini Ice Age’.

We are happy to clarify that the record low temperatures reported as part of a natural cycle in solar activity are not inconsistent with current scientific findings of a warming troposphere, and apologise for any contrary impression given.