Sun Enters a Prolonged Hibernation Phase. Earth Risking a New Ice Age

Sun will experience a period of "hibernation" characterized by a very weak activity, and this period will be unusually long and may affect terrestrial climate, said Tuesday, three U.S. scientists.

U.S. astronomers have observed a decrease in sunspot activity and a slowdown near the poles, a sign that Sun is preparing to enter a prolonged period of calm.

While the current cycle of the Sun, the 24th, started in 2008, begins to accelerate work towards a maximum which is measured by the number of sunspots, studies about the internal activity of its object, visible on the surface of and about the corona and have led experts to say that the next cycle could be very calm or even inexistant, say scientists at the National solar Observatory (NSO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

"If we are not mistaking, then the current cycle could last in terms of maximum solar activity that we see before passing decades," said Frank Hill, deputy director of NSO, lead author of one of studies cited.

Calling this phenomenon as "very unusual and unexpected", American astronomer believes he "will affect many things, from space exploration to Earth's climate."

Thus, in the past, a weak solar magnetic activity coincided with the appearance of prolonged ice ages on Earth. During these periods, the atmosphere cools and contracts, and magnetic storms near the poles (aurora borealis), phenomena that can disrupt communication systems on Earth, is rarefied.