Warning on Global Cooling

The Canadian National Post has just published an excellent article titled Read the Sunspots, by R. Timothy Patterson. Dr. Patterson is a professor and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre at Carleton University.

Patterson is one of a growing number of scientists who want to put the “science” back into “Earth Science.” As such, he is at odds with politicians like Al Gore who treat Earth Science more as a religion than a scientific endeavor.

The article documents the correlation between climate change and solar activity. As we all know, the Sun is the most significant factor which effects the Earths climate. Moreover, Dr. Patterson warns that we could soon be in for a major risk of global cooling:

Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada.

The article contains a very useful list of links to similar scholarly articles on the environment which have been published by the National Post. The entire series is highly recommended.