Climate Change or Climate Cycles? I’m Confused!

While growing up in South St. Louis, Missouri during the 1930s and 40s, I often heard the admonition, “Don’t believe anything you read or hear and only half of what you see.”  I’m sure that was a reflection of the skepticism of that era as newspaper editors and radio commentators stretched the truth in their attempts to gain market share.   The motivation hasn’t changed but the delivery system has become more sophisticated as TV and the internet bombard all of our senses. 

Even at its best, ‘science’ is not an exact science, (How’s that for an oxymoron?) and when commercialized and politicized as it has become today, its credibility suffers and it is difficult to know what to believe. 

For example, for decades  we have been subjected to ‘scientific proof’ the man made climate change and the imminent apocalypse associaed with it.  Now, after having reached a certain level of complacency, we are smacked with the headline, “Earth Is About To Enter A 30-Year ‘Mini Ice Age’ As A 'Solar Minimum' Grips The Planet.” 

Here are some excerpts from the report: 

• Earth is bracing for a solar minimum: a dormant period in which the Sun radiates less energy or heat at our planet than usual. Scientists have warned that as a result of the Sun’s inactivity, Earth is likely to witness a ‘mini ice age’ that could bring extreme winters and chilly cold storms over the next 30 years.
• According to NASA, the Sun will reach its lowest activity in over 200 years in 2020. As it further goes into its natural hibernation phase, Earth will experience extremely cold spells which will trigger food shortages across the planet. The average temperatures could drop as much as one degree Celsius
• Solar minimums are part of the Sun's natural life cycle and occur once every 11 years. However, 2020's minimum is going to be a special case. because it marks the start of a rare event known as a Grand Solar Minimum, in which energy emitted from the Sun plummets down even more than usual. These only occur once every 400 years or so.
• The onset of the Grand Solar Minimum is already evident in Canada and Iceland, The icy spells and wet summers could be around until 2053, when solar activity picks up againThe last Grand Solar Minimum lasted from 1645 to 1715 and was likely set off by a number of factors including a slew of massive volcanic eruptions.

This phenomenon begs the question. “Is our current climate situation the result of  man-made environmental destruction, naturally occurring climate cycles, or both?"  
What say ye?

 Learn more: https://in.mashable.com/science/11043/earth-is-about-to-enter-a-30-year-mini-ice-age-as-a-solar-minimum-grips-the-planet