Image - NASA
Every eleven years or so, the spots on our star fade. This is what is known as the solar minimum, and we are currently addressing one. Between the years 2019-2020 they are expected to reach their lowest point, but How will it affect the earth?
The truth is that it is still not known for sure, but we can get an idea of what will happen thanks to NASA.
The Sun goes through cycles of eleven years or so, between which there is a maximum, that is, when it has more sun spots, and a minimum. It is known that the more stains it has, the hotter it is, and that on the contrary, the fewer there are, the colder it will be. Why? Okay, the radiation that reaches us from the Sun barely varies 0,1% between the solar maximum and minimum. It may seem very little, practically nothing, but it must be borne in mind that the star king is capable of emitting a large amount of energy.
Between the years 1645 and 1715 it had very few spots, and the earth's temperature was 1ºC lower usual. It was a period known as the "Maunder Minimum", although there are those who know it best for the "Little Ice Age". During that time, both Europe and North America experienced harsh winters, with glaciers gaining ground.
Maunder minimum
But is that what awaits us soon? It could be, but the reality is that there is an important difference: now the atmosphere is overloaded with carbon dioxide, which means that we may get rid of the cooling a bit. And, in any way, we will not be able to do much against the geomagnetic storms that will come to us. In this regard, Dean Pesnell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said in a release that »during solar minimum, the Sun's magnetic field weakens and provides less shielding from cosmic rays. This may pose a greater threat to astronauts traveling through space. '