The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, methane emissions from massive factory farms, etc. are causing global warming. As the temperature rises, snow and ice that reflected much of the sun’s energy, melt, revealing land and water that absorb the sun’s energy and raises the Earth’s temperature even more. Another result of the increasing temperatures is the thawing of permafrost, which releases methane, further contributing to global warming. However, as the Earth heats up, massive glaciers all around the world melt, depositing enormous amounts of fresh water into the oceans. Scientists speculate that this influx of fresh water could disrupt the global conveyor belt, which affects climates throughout the world. If this conveyor belt were to slow or shut down, the Earth could plunge into another ice age.
Occurring at the same time, however, is the slowdown of the sun’s solar energy output. When this cyclical event happens, the Earth’s temperature drops considerably. The last time this happened, about 200 years ago, the decades long cold spell caused widespread crop losses, food riots, famine, and disease.
Sounds like we’re in a big mess, right? Maybe not. If the solar slowdown occurs first, dropping global temperature say 4 degrees Fahrenheit, permafrost will stop thawing, no longer releasing methane; the large areas of snow and ice that have been melting under global warming will remain and reflect the sun’s energy; and all of these factors combined will stop the glaciers from melting and pouring fresh water into the ocean, preventing the shutdown of the global conveyor belt and the start of a new ice age. So all we have to do is find a way of speeding up the sun’s solar energy slowdown and we all live happily ever after, if just a little bit colder. No problem, eh? We’ll just send Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck to the sun to detonate a nuclear warhead and save the world. Oy vey. My head hurts.