The 11 year cycle

The sun has approximately 11 and 22-year cycles. During one 11-year cycle the sun’s north and south magnetic polls switch places. Do it again and your back at the starting point making it a full 22-year cycle.

In one 11-years cycle, the sun goes through a ‘solar maximum’ (lots of sunspots) and a ‘solar minimum’ (no sunspots)

During the magnetic reversal, the positive and negative (north and south) fields mix, causing visible sunspots.

There are many other things that also take place but for the sake of simplicity, I will not list them here. (CMEs, flares, brightness change…)

It has been said that the activity of the sun effects the behavior of the humans. There is a TED presentation where Joe Martino talks about the phenomena. World events and sunspot cycles have a correlation.

Where are we at now?

The current solar cycle is almost done, with less than two years left.
The magnetic fields are now at the polls (Solar minimum) meaning that there will be very few sunspots now.

What is different with the current cycle is that it was very weak and seems to be shorter than then previously observed cycles. In fact, this cycle was roughly 50% weaker than the one that we had during the 70’s and 80’s (cycle 21 = 1976.03-1986.08)

Where are we heading? - The Cycle of Grand solar minimum

We are entering a period where we have very little activity in the sun (few sunspots). This is normal and part of a even longer 200 and 400 year cycle in the Sun.

NASA paper suggesting that the next solar cycle is going to be 19% weaker than the current (already weak) one

The previous times we had low solar activity:
Maunder Minimum 1645 - 1715
Dalton Minimum 1796 – 1820

What does low solar activity mean?

Space is not just a empty vacuum. Space is filled with stuff like plasma and cosmic rays. The sun creates a shield that reaches far away. It gives a strong protection for every planet in this solar system.

This shield is decreasing because the Sun is going to a cycle that has less activity. Because of this more cosmic rays from space is reaching us. This will change many things like the weather, human behavior and volcano activity.

Changes can be often best described as 'extream'

• Swings in human behavior (The way we interact, solve problems, economics..)
• Extream weather (Record heat/cold, out of season weather, Intense lightning)
• Uptick in volcano activity.
• New type of space weather (New type of aurora, Climate change in other plantes)

Change

The great American eclipse is here.
The universe is looking down on us telling that it is time.
Time to grow up. Time to wake up.

We are living extraordinary times and change is not always easy. Old structures and beliefs are fading away so the new can take place. Life will present its worst and best times.

We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.

-Albert Einstein