Confirmation?

This is coolbert:

Thanks to Yahoo a speculation that was the subject of a previous blog entry can now be confirmed?

The sun that humans rely upon for life itself is indeed entering a quiescent period? This is now established as fact?

A Maunder Minimum NOT seen for four hundred years!

Perhaps so:

"Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots"

"WASHINGTON (AFP) – For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposite."

"According to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday, experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century."

NO or very few sunspots for decades!!

The immediately and obviously understood consequences of a Maunder Minimum will be:

* High-frequency [HF] long-haul radio communications that the military has relied upon for decades - - and still in use [??] - - will no longer be possible.

* Several centuries [?] of global cooling will occur. About a two hundred year period from the 1600's until the early 1800's was noted for brutal winters and general low temperatures world-wide! With all that means for agriculture and the production of food for an ever burgeoning and hungry human population! Political turmoil leading to war a definite possible!

This Maunder Minimum, unprecedented during modern times and not anticipated, is the sort of thing, unexpected, that quite often results that are "unexpected"!

I would have to think too that the modern means of communication available to the military such as SATCOM, etc., have eliminated the need for HF instantaneous world-wide? American military units on SIOP [nuclear-equipped] alert still rely heavily [?] on HF?

We shall see on this one!!

coolbert.