Global Warming Or Cooling?

Recently the news reported that the sun is going into a dormant cycle. This cycle is due to the hibernation of sunspots. Solar magnetic activity creates sunspots – the more active the sun, the more sunspots. Since it has been reported that the sunspots are disappearing, what can we expect? This is where it can get confusing. Some scientists say that we are in a cycle of global warming, while other scientists say a weaker sun cycle could create another mini ice age. These two theories differ radically, so what are we to believe? So much has been written about global warming, but until recently very little has been reported about global cooling due to a decrease in sunspots. The sun has done this in the past, but no one is sure what exactly needs to happen to create one of these mini ice ages. In current recorded history, there have been two mini ice ages. The first, known as Maunder Minimum, occurred from 1645 to 1715. When the atmosphere cooled, the oscillation (currents) changed in the Northern Atlantic and cold air streamed over Northern Europe. It caused the Baltic Sea and most of the rivers in Europe to freeze for extended periods of time and created bitterly cold and prolonged winters. The Dalton Minimum was the next mini ice age, from 1795 to 1830, when global temperatures drastically dropped to such a degree that the year of 1816 was known as the year without a summer. In recent years, our winters here in the United States have tended to be longer and colder. This year, in the late spring and early summer, snow still covered much of the Northeast and Midwest and heavy snow packs remained on the Rockies and Sierras. So, what is really happening – global warming or global cooling? That is the million dollar question. No one knows for sure – we will just have to wait and see. For in truth, only the Lord knows for sure, and He is not telling us.