Grand Solar Minimum Symptoms

There are several lessons learned from studying earlier cycles, and particularly good data on very early global cooling events in Europe. See also the discussion of the Great Famine of 1315 in Episode 5.

[IAF Note: I've decorated with some tag links to simplify finding related/recent news corresponding to each of the following:

Onset of these conditions can be very abrupt and very severe.

Food Shortages

A decline in food production for many reasons, including:

• Shortened growing season (#gsmFood)
• The food that IS produced is less nutritious, ie wheat contains less protein
• Lack of feed for livestock (#gsmFood)
• Parasites (i.e. fusarium nivale), which thrived under snow cover, devastated crops. (#gsmFood)
• Grain storage in cool damp conditions produced fungus (Ergot Blight). Contaminated grains when consumed caused an illness (St. Anthony’s Fire) producing convulsions, hallucinations, gangrenous rotting of extremities. (#gsmWet)

These lead to major and minor famines.

Dark

• Dramatic increase in days with overcast skies. (#gsmDark)
• Decline in the intensity of sunlight. (#gsmDark)

Cold

• Decline by several degrees in global temperature (#gsmCold)

Torrential Rain/Flooding, Droughts

• Regions of massive rainfall and flooding (#gsmRain / #gsmFlood)
• Limited regions experienced droughts (#gsmDrought)

Illness

Malnutrition lead to weakened immune system. Environmental conditions from previous plagues recreated. Hence:

• Influenza epidemics. (#gsmSick)
• Reoccurrence of plagues such as the Black Plague. (#gsmSick)
• Flooding created swamplands that became mosquito breeding grounds and introduced tropical diseases such as malaria throughout Europe. (#gsmWet)

Hail/Storms

• During hot summers, cold air aloft produced killer hailstorms (hailstones that could kill a cow). (#gsmHail)
• Higher frequency of powerful storms produced major devastations. (#gsmStorm)

Geophysical

• Glacier advance swallowed up entire alpine villages. (#gsmGlacier)
• Ruptured glacial ice dams produced deadly floods. (#gsmFlood)

Seismic/Volcanic

• Drastic increase in seismic activity (earthquakes) (#gsmEQ, and
• Dramatic increase in volcanic activity #gsmVolcano)

Atmospheric

• Hugely increased atmospheric electric charge (fatal lightning strikes, positive lightning, sprites, noctilucent clouds, northern lights) (#gsmElec)

Wildfires

• Wildfires of extreme heat (reference Dobler's Abrupt Earth Changes) (#gsmFire)

Wind

1. Violent, damaging wind events (#gsmWind)