We are already well into a Grand Solar Minimum. It’s the deepest minimum in 100 years.
This post is based on personal observations in Scandinavia about 250 miles south of the Arctic circle this summer.
CLOUDS
Among the changes in clouds are the new massive areas covered by noctilucent clouds.
These have a strong blue glow around and sometime during and after sunset and can be seen now in the northern third of the US and in Canada because of the Grand Solar Minimum.
Contributing Grand Solar Minimum factors are increases in galactic cosmic rays that modify the cloud formations, and cooling of the upper atmosphere.
The massive size of the area which these clouds cover can be seen in this NASA satellite photograph.
Noctilucent clouds are formed of water ice crystals and are quite high in the atmosphere. There are multiple effects from a Grand Solar Minimum on clouds.
For example, generally, it results in lower base height clouds (in addition to the increase in high-level noctilucent clouds).
Such lower base height clouds could lead to increased cooling in addition to the cooling effect caused by decreased irradiation by the sun.
Generally speaking, clouds form when water in the atmosphere condenses around small particles (called aerosols). These aerosols are made up of ice, salt, and dust found in the atmosphere.
The effect of increased galactic cosmic rays in a Grand Solar Minimum produces a high level of secondary particles (ions) when the cosmic radiation impacts clouds. These ions, in turn, cause an increase in cloud size and lower the base height.
Cosmic rays are actually particles, not rays. Mostly protons as well as electrons and the nuclei of helium atoms. These move through space and impact the Earth.
The level of cosmic rays increases greatly during a Grand Solar Minimum. This is from the reduction in sunspots. Sunspots create a strong magnetic field that blocks and slows cosmic rays. At present, there are no sunspots at all.
Regarding the changes on Earth that are occurring now during the Grand Solar Minimum, clouds are not the only differences occurring in the present Grand Solar Minimum.
THE TREE SEED STORM
I am only able to report on the forests and their surrounding areas in central latitudes of Scandinavia. This year, birch trees in Scandinavia are producing in one year the amount that might usually occur in three or four years.
Birch tree seeds (which look like tiny airplanes) piled up everywhere. It has been possible this summer to take a wheelbarrow and fill one every 20 yards along the way if one wanted to clear the area of seeds.
Trees that produce berries also are having an unusually big year. The bright reddish-orange berries (with seeds inside) of the Sorbus type trees such as White Mountain Ash are present in huge amounts.
Besides a large number of seeds being produced, there is also the unusually rapid growth of young trees of all kinds.
If we would like to look for some possible reason this rapid tree growth is occurring now, it would be partially the effect of the doubling of galactic cosmic radiation in this present Grand Solar Minimum. This causes an increase in nitrogen in the soil.
To lend a bit of credibility of these observations on tree growth and some of the other observations, there is a UK study indicating a direct correlation between tree growth and the level of cosmic rays by the Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh.
The study found that tree growth was highest during periods of low sunspot activity when most cosmic rays reached Earth. In other words, during Solar Minimums. But tree growth slowed during the Solar Maximums between 1965 and 2005.
The Grand Solar Minimum is here, along with increased cosmic rays. Observing the effects of the Grand Solar Minimum makes it increasingly obvious that weather on Earth is controlled by the sun, not by CO2.
Dr. Joel Glass is an engineer working in the field of water infrastructure for ultra-cold climate environments. His new book, ICE AGE … 2025: HOW TO PREPARE AMERICA AND YOUR FAMILY, forecast the current deep Grand Solar Minimum.
Every year every spring we get those little fluffy seeds from the Cottonwood trees and they look like snow
My maple trees produced more seeds this year, by far, than they have since I planted them two decades ago. The seeds filled my gutters. The branches had at least four times as many seeds as any other previous season.
I once read a great paper on solar cycles and tree growth, but it was before the interwebs, and I have not been able to find a copy since. This phenomenon needs to be studied, but who can get funding in this CO2 obsessed era?
Hi Joel,
You did not give a reference as to the origin of the NASA photo. And you did not comment about the circular ‘black hole’ in the center of the massive noctilucent cloud image. If this was an actual photo, it would seem this ‘black hole’ is an absence of these clouds centered on the North Pole. Before I speculate (I do have an explanation if it real) as to its possible explanation, I would like to know if you consider it to be real.
Have a good day, Jerry