This week researchers announced that a solar storm is coming — the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). “The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one,” she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958. Solar Cycle 24 will be the biggest in modern history.
Dikpati’s forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.
Translation: it going to get hotter on earth during this period.
At the same time, researchers are showing evidence that the next solar cycle 25 is likely to be very weak.
Translation: It will get cooler on earth starting around 2017-2018 and beyond.
So if I reduce my personal carbon emissions on my tractor and my car, can I offset the effects of this warming solar storm and save the planet?