05-05-09 Little Ice Age Unlikely,Scientists Say

Some media reports and headlines recently suggested that the sun's present lack of activity could lead to another Little Ice Age,but many solar scientists say that's unlikely.Yes,the sun has been quiet lately,with very little magnetic activity on its surface;strong activity would be signified by dark patches called sunspots. Until recently, this was to be expected:The sun goes through roughly 11-year cycles,and 2008 was a predicted trough of activity.But so far,the sun hasn't seemed to pick up in activity as predicted — sunspots were seen on only 12 of the first 90 days in 2009."This reluctance of the new cycle to start has me and others wondering if we might be headed toward a grand minimum where the sun stops producing spots for decades," said NASA solar physicist David Hathaway.Still,Hathaway does not think this is going to lead to major global cooling,or anything that will significantly alter the trend toward global warming.The previous grand minimum,called the Maunder Minimum,occurred between 1645 and 1715.The lull fell during a longer range (from about the 16th century to the mid-19th century) when certain areas on Earth experienced a dip in temperatures that became known as the "Little Ice Age."