There has been a flurry of recent stories warning of an impending "mini ice age," with both Murdoch Media and respectable sources like CNN picking it up. The stories are based on a recent talk given by a researcher who is skeptical of the consensus position on climate change. We'll spare you the details of the talk—given how the stories have been thoroughly debunked—and will move straight to the pushback as well as the history of these kinds of "global cooling" claims.
From blogs that tried to tamp down the story before it really got going to the Washington Post, which only reported on it once pickup was more widespread, there has been no lack of reasoned responses to the ice age story. Even non-climate outlets like SpaceDaily are getting in on the debunking. It's worth noting, however, that this is far from the first time the specter of an ice age has arisen (with the Guardian debunking similar claims back in 2013 and doing so again for this round). And let's not forget the popular denier meme of repeating, ‘Scientists thought there'd be cooling in the 1970s'—a myth that legitimate circles put to rest in 2008 with a peer-reviewed rebuttal.
At ThinkProgress, Joe Romm does a great job of showing that what we should expect in coming decades is not an ice age, but the exact opposite. As it turns out, minor fluctuations in the Sun's magnetism can't compensate for the steady increase in heat-trapping gasses in our atmosphere.
This narrative started out frustrating, with some reporters falling for the same denier tales, but ended up representing something more inspiring: smart reporters actually digging into the facts and getting the story right.
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