The list of crazy catastrophes characterizing 2020 just got longer as the sun entered a phase scientists call ‘solar minimum.’
THE SCIENCE OF THE 11-YEAR SOLAR CYCLE
The solar cycle, or solar magnetic activity cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the sun’s activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the solar surface. Accompanying the 11-year quasi-periodicity in sunspots, the large-scale dipolar (north-south) magnetic field component of the Sun also flips every 11 years. Solar activity can affect climate fluctuations on scales of centuries and longer.
THE CURRENT SOLAR MINIMUM GEARING UP TO BE ONE OF THE MOST EXTREME
In a recent interview, Astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips discussed his research with the NY Post.
“Solar Minimum is underway and it’s a deep one,” Dr. Phillips said. “Sunspot counts suggest it is one of the deepest of the past century. The sun’s magnetic field has become weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into the solar.”
“Excess cosmic rays pose a health hazard to astronauts and polar air travelers, affect the electro-chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere, and may help trigger lightning.”
Their non-linear character makes predictions of solar activity very difficult but it is believed that a solar maximum hit a peak of solar activity in 2014 ending in 2018. Some scientists believe we are now beginning a solar minimum that will reach its maximum in 2025. This is indicated by 2020 being the second consecutive year of a record-setting low number of sunspots.
“This is a sign that solar minimum is underway,” reads SpaceWeather.com. “So far this year, the Sun has been blank 76% of the time, a rate surpassed only once before in the Space Age. Last year, 2019, the Sun was blank 77% of the time. Two consecutive years of record-setting spotlessness adds up to a very deep solar minimum, indeed.”
The current minimum is forecasted to last longer than usual, just as it did in the previous solar cycle.
HISTORY OF SOLAR MINIMUMS
Other periods of solar minima, such as the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) or Dalton Minimum (1790-1830), were characterized by colder weather. During the Dalton Minimum, temperatures plummeted by up to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit over 20 years. The situation was exacerbated in 1816, dubbed as the year without a summer. A combination of already low temperatures plus the aftereffects of the second-largest volcanic eruption in 2000 years, Mount Tambora, threw massive amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, lowering temperatures around the globe. Food prices soared as crops failed.
Some researchers believe the upcoming solar minimum cycle could lower temperatures by as much as 0.3 degrees Celsius by 2025.
SOLAR CYCLES FROM THE TIME OF GENESIS
Though scientists still do not fully understand the cycles of the sun, solar cycles is a concept that Judaism understands, basing this understanding on the Biblical story of creation. In a rare and powerful mitzvah (Torah commandment) called birkat hachama (blessing the sun), Jews bless the dawn once every 28 years, thanking God for creating the sun.
According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28-year solar cycle known as machzor gadol (מחזור גדול, “the great cycle”). A solar year is estimated as 365.25 days and the “Blessing of the Sun”, is said at the beginning of this cycle, is therefore recited every 10,227 (28 times 365.25) days. The last time that it was recited was on April 8, 2009 (14 Nisan 5769 on the Hebrew calendar).
According to the Babylonian Talmud, the Sun makes a 28-year cycle to return to precisely the position that it was in when the Universe was first created, which was on a Tuesday evening.
SOLAR CYCLE IN THE END OF DAYS
Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, noted that the scientists are at a disadvantage when studying the sun.
“They see the sun, all of nature, as a mechanism,” Rabbi Berger said. “There are rules of nature but they were set by the Creator. Until you understand that, understand that nature is in a relationship with Elohim, the aspect of God that is judgment and expressed through nature, then you will never completely understand nature.”
“The sun, for example, is not set and unchanging. It was set to be a sign, and a sign changes as the message changes,” Rabbi Berger said, quoting Genesis.
Hashem said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; Genesis 1:14
Rabbi Berger noted that when scientists treat nature as a machine and intervene, they do great damage. The rabbi noted that when necessary, God could change the laws of nature, splitting the Red Sea and even stopping the sun in its tracks, as He did for Joshua.
“God,” he noted, “must be part of the equation for the equation to be accurate. When studying the heavens, the sun and the moon, it is important to listen to what they are saying,” Rabbi Berger said, citing Psalms.
The heavens declare the glory of Hashem, the sky proclaims His handiwork. Psalms 19:2
Rabbi Berger was quite explicit about the message.
“Everything in creation has one message: to sing the praise of God which will be realized in the Messiah. The sun bears a clear message. Just as we cannot gaze at the sun, nothin in creation can look directly at God’s glory.”
Rabbi Berger noted that the solar cycles are consistent with Biblical concepts and in the end-of-days, the part of the cycle that results in a hotter climate, what the scientists referred to as a solar maximum, will appear as a means of dealing with evil people. This is described by the Prophet Malachi.
For lo! That day is at hand, burning like an oven. All the arrogant and all the doers of evil shall be straw, and the day that is coming—said the lord of Hosts—shall burn them to ashes and leave of them neither stock nor boughs.But for you who revere My name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing. You shall go forth and stamp like stall-fed calves, Malachi 3:19-20
After hearing an explanation of the claim of Global Warming, Rabbi Berger noted that even according to the claim of the scientists, the origin of the problem is in following unbridled science and technology.
“It seems that if global warming is happening, those who deny God are bringing it on themselves, just as the prophet described.”
POLITICALLY WEAPONIZED BY CLIMATE CHANGE ALARMISTS
Others deny that the solar cycle has any influence on the weather. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) maintains that solar activity has little effect on Earth’s temperatures and would not make little difference in climate change. The IPCC warns, however, that “more research to investigate the effects of solar behavior on climate is needed before the magnitude of solar effects on climate can be stated with certainty.”
Though this period of climatic cooling sounds like it would be welcome news for those who have been beating the global warming war-drums, some have claimed that the cooling of the solar minimum is an even greater threat. Energy Reporters, a website that supports the global warming narrative, warned of what the cool segment of the solar cycle would mean.
“A grand solar minimum will not save us from human-generated greenhouse gas emissions,” the website wrote. “Discourse around such a phenomenon, however, could halt urgency to address them. What is more facile than a right-wing nationalist populist seizing on colder weather to hold on to power? This new narrative could slow down social backing for the dramatically stronger climate policies that we need.”
“Colder weather, brought on by a potential grand solar minimum, might simply feed our complacency. This seems likely so long as we remain mired in our current age of irrationality.”
