Rare Drop in Sunspot Activity Could Cause Little Ice Age

[Kay]

we've had a really cool spring/summer so far,
only a few days over 70, let alone above 80.

A pox on you, it hasn't been under 100 here for weeks.
I can't wait to see what July and August bring.

[The Night Owl]

No, you just tend to dissapear for a while, so I'll most likely end up waiting for a response.

If you're suggesting that I disappear to dodge questions then you're wrong. I disappear when I'm too busy to participate here. Is that okay with you?

As to the article that you linked, that guy is all over the place, and really is only supporting the argument of those he's trying to refute in the end.

He goes on to argue that the weakening solar activity directly lead to effects in the atmosphere that affected the Jet Stream, aiding in the Little Ice Age.

...

His own words.

He tries to throw you off by stating that the Maunder minimum started long after the "Little Ice Age" did, but he doesn't tell you about the Sporer and Wolf minimums that took place during the earlier periods of it. The three minimums got progressively "stronger", and there is a direct correlation between those and the lowering temperatures in that period of time. The coldest temps were associated with the strongest minimum.

...

I mean look at that. Wolf minimum, drop in temps. Sporer minimum, bigger drop in temps. Maunder minimum, bigger drop in temps.

So don't expect me to take what he's saying with any value. Either he's trying to mislead, or he's just not doing enough research.

The point the article makes is that solar variation has had much less impact on climate than recent human activities and so there is no reason to believe that a new solar minimum will affect climate in the same way past solar minimums seem to have affected climate. Moreover, we don't even know that we're headed for an extended minimum.