OPINION (Express) – Earth could be braced for a ‘mini ICE-AGE’ as experts warn a solar minimum could last until the 2050s. Sunspot activity on the surface of the Sun follows a well-known but little understood 11 year cycle. Activity rises and falls creating the so-called solar maximum and then solar minimum.

During a solar maximum, the Sun is more powerful and is littered with sunspots. Conversely, when the Sun enters a solar minimum – which it did about two years ago – energy from our host star begins to lessen.

However, one expert has warned that the Sun will enter a period of “hibernation” this year, in what as known as a Grand Solar Minimum (GSM) Prof Valentina Zharkova, from the department of mathematics, physics and electrical engineering at Northumbria University, warned this could cause global temperatures to drop by one degrees Celsius. While that sounds like an insignificant drop, it could have major ramifications for the planet, including a slow down in agricultural production. READ MORE