Lake sediment proves sun cooled earth 2,800 years ago – and it could happen again soon
When the Greek poet Homer was writing The Odyssey around 2,800 years ago, the Earth went through an abrupt period of cooling, caused by the sun – and the same could happen again soon.
Scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences analysed lake sediment in Lake Meerfelder Maar, and found direct evidence of a sudden cooling caused by a ‘solar minimum’.
Some scientists suspect that the current period of high solar activity – including increased sunspots and solar storms this year – will be followed by a ‘minimum’ period, which could even cause an Ice Age.
If the GFZ research is correct, a new ‘solar minimum’ could have a direct impact on Earth’s climate – cooling our planet drastically, and knocking the predictions of global-warming alarmists out of whack.
Dr Achim Brauer of the GFZ said,’An abrupt cooling in Europe together with an increase in humidity and particularly in windiness coincided with a sustained reduction in solar activity 2800 years ago.’
Brauer’s measurement’s of lake sediments allow ‘a precise dating even of short-term climate changes.’
The ‘Homeric Minimum’ – the solar minimum that coincided with the famous poet’s lifetime – caused a cool period that lasted 200 years.
‘Scientists from the German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ in collaboration with Swedish and Dutch colleagues provide evidence for a direct solar-climate linkage on centennial timescales,’ say the researchers.
‘Using the most modern methodological approach, they analysed sediments from Lake Meerfelder Maar, a maar lake in the Eifel/Germany, to determine annual variations in climate and solar activity.’
Suggestions that the sun might affect climate so profoundly are controversial.
