(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA London: Scientists from the University of Northumbria warned that the Earth could face frosty weather and intense snow storms over the next 30 years as an ominous "solar minimum" grips the planet.
This sudden cold shift - caused by the Sun entering a natural "hibernation" - threaten to trigger food shortages as temperatures slump across the planet, experts say.
Earth is bracing for a solar minimum, which is a quiet period in which the Sun fires less energy, or heat, at our planet than usual.
According to NASA, the Sun will reach its lowest activity in over 200 years in 2020, which could cause average temperatures to drop as much as 1C in a cold spell lasting 12 months.
This dropping might not seem huge, but a whole degree is very significant for global average temperatures, said Professor Valentina Zharkova, expert at Northumbria University.
"The Sun is approaching a hibernation period; less sunspots will be formed on the solar surface, thus less energy and radiation will be emitted towards the planets and the Earth" explained Professor Zharkova.
solar minimums are part of the Sun's natural life cycle and occur once every 11 years. However, 2020's minimum promises to be an especially chilly one; as it marks the start of a rare event known as a Grand solar Minimum, in which energy emitted from the Sun drops even more than usual.
These only occur once every 400 years or so and most of the effects will be harmless. Professor Zharkova, however, warned icy spells and wet summers could persist until solar activity picks up again in 2053. She listed recent unusual chills in Canada and Iceland as evidence of the Grand solar Minimum (GSM) already taking hold.
"The reduction in temperature will results in cold weathers on Earth, wet and cold summers, cold and wet winters," she told The Sun Journal, adding "we will possibly get big frosts as is happening now in Canada where they see temperatures of -50C, but this is only the start of GSM, as there is more to come in the next 33 years."
According to NASA, the last GSM to strike Earth was the Maunder Minimum, which lasted from 1645 to 1715. During this period, the brightness of the Sun dropped and temperatures plummeted across the globe.
The brutal cold decades saw famous waterways like the Thames and Amsterdam's canals freeze regularly - events that are rare today.
NASA's readings of solar activity suggest our planet could find itself in the grips of a similar freeze by 2025.
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