Jan 30, 2012 The Sun is predicted to “hibernate” during its next
cycle in 2020. A recent press release states that the Sun’s
activity will slow to an unprecedented decline in the next ten
years. The prediction is based on “…three independent studies of
the sun’s insides, surface, and upper atmosphere…” According to
the article, the drop in output could initiate climate effects
comparable to the Maunder Minimum between 1645 and 1715.
Predictions about how the Sun will behave are reliable only if
the interpretation of the data upon which the prediction was
made is reliable. As many past Picture of the Day expositions
have revealed, however, conventional theories of solar dynamics
leave much to be desired. For example, attributing to internal
heating the unexpected “weather patterns” recently discovered
below the photosphere is like ascribing Earth’s weather patterns
to heat escaping from within the Earth. The possibility that
weather systems may be externally electrically powered has not
occurred to investigato